Knew
by the.hungry.mockingjay
Summary: What would happen if Cato and Clove knew Katniss way before they were in the games? But the District 2 pair didn't remember their best friend? What would happen?
1. If Only

CHAPTER 1

To say I knew her was an understatement. I actually _knew_ her, ever since we were little. Across the meadow from her District is mine. And that is where I first met her. She danced around a tree as her father leaned against it singing a song. All of the birds fell silent as she started to sing along. Her dark brown hair pulled into a braid that trailed behind her with every turn she made. I didn't make myself known, I didn't have to. Because she was the first of the two to notice me. And they treated me like one of their own, from their own District. I sat and watched as she danced and he sang. My life at home wasn't the greatest, dad was making me train for the games and mom was as transparent in the family as the window was in the wall. But these two, the father and his daughter, made me feel like I was part of a family.

So, the girl and I kept in touch all these years and met in the meadow every chance we got. I soon introduced her to my friend Clove as well and we all got along. Her father treated Clove like a third daughter. But when her father died in the mines, we started to grow distant. Our letters got spread out more and more until there were none at all. And our visits grew less and less because she had to provide for her family, and every time she did, she risked her life in the process. The less I saw of her, the more I grew angry at what ever god there was in the world. And I took my rage out on the dummies in the training center back in my District. It turned me into a brutal killer, a strong, mean, brutal killer that can easily dispose of anything with a flick of my wrist. The girl and her father started to become a memory of mine, one that I started to forget. I prayed that I would see her again, I just never thought I would remember her, and see her again, like this. She was my family regardless though, and I will do everything I can to protect her, despite my feelings for the girl on fire.

I never forgot about him, not once. I never forgot about the boy that I met in the meadow when I was dancing around whilst my dad sang one of his songs that I loved so much. I was the first to notice him standing there watching us. I was scared at first because of the District he came from, but my father wasn't. He treated him like he was my brother, like he was family. And I knew that the boy like that feeling. Every time I was with him I felt safe, I felt safe next to the blond haired, blue eyed boy that my father grew so fond of. We saw each other whenever we could and wrote letters to each other. I had met one of his friends as well, a close friend he called Clove. Father had made it feel like she was another sister to me and we became close.

But once the day that my father had passed, we saw and heard from less of each other. I was loosing my friend. I had to provide for my family and made a new friends in the process, but Gale never replaced him. I had lost my friends from the meadow. My illegal friends as dad called him. Not many people know others from other Districts, but my dad always said that despite that fact, he could see the boy and I being together for a very long time. He teased me about it relentlessly. He said that the boy and I would get married and have a life together. But I never believed him. Marrying outside your District is uncommon at best. But I never forgot about him. This boy that had intrigued me and was my friend for so long never left my memory. He was a memory that never faded. He never faded and neither did my feelings for him. If only he knew about them.


	2. We Are Enemies

~Katniss~

As I sat on the train in my room I couldn't help but think about my friends from the meadow. I had watched the recaps of the Reapings and they are both Tributes. So I cried, I hadn't cried in years but this time I did. I cried for my friends, it didn't matter if I died or they died, either way I was losing a brother and sister. I might not only lose Prim but I will lose Cato and Clove for sure. Cato, he volunteered for this, he has become a monster, a killing machine. I hardly recognized him any more. Clove either, she looked as lethal as the knives she talked about training with. They had trained for these games and are ready for them, but I always dreaded them, because I hoped in some way if I wasn't in them, that I would see them again. But I guess that isn't going to happen, because once these games start. We are no longer friends.

We are enemies.

~Cato~

I sat on the train sending an evil glare at the television. Clove and I were watching the Reapings and we couldn't help but laugh at the Tributes from District 12. so a girl volunteers for her little sister. Big deal. But there was something about her that seemed familiar, I just couldn't place it.

"Cato! Are you even listening?" Clove annoyingly shouted next to me.

"what?" I angrily replied, shooting a glare in her direction.

"i said that it's going to be so easy to kill these Tributes from 12, they are nothing but skin and bone. It should be a snap." she says mimicking the proper movements to snap a person's neck. I simply nodded before I stood up to get something from the table of food. "so what were you thinking about before?" I heard her say as she came to stand next to me.

"the girl, that volunteered, did she look at all familiar to you?" I asked and she looked back at the girl's, Katniss's, face frozen on the screen.

"maybe a little. Hey Cato can I ask you a question?"

"what about?"

"lately I've been having these weird dreams. It has us, but younger, and some other girl about our age, older than me, but younger than you, in a meadow. And her dad was with us too. It seemed so real, like a memory. I was just wondering if maybe you remember anything like that." I stared at her. I had had those same dreams. Clove and I sat in a meadow with a girl and her father. The girl had a braid going down her back and all of us laughed. That is when something in my mind clicked.

"Clove that's how she seems familiar. The braid that the girl in the reaping had, it was just like the girl in your dreams. And mine." I say sitting down in a chair.

"what does it mean?" she asks.

"I don't know. Maybe this girl knows her?" I offer.

"well I don't know about you but when we get into the training center, I'm gonna ask." Clove said shooting a glare at Katniss on the screen.

When we arrived at the Capitol we were taken straight to our designers to get all prettied up. They shaved my face, arms, and legs, and almost my dick I shouted at them not to. They waxed and scrubbed me down and by the time I was done with everything, I was in my Roman costume waiting for Clove to finish getting ready. Right as she walked out the Tributes from district 12 walked out as well wear black suits. I smirked at them, that's their costume? Mine looks so much better. But soon I saw one of their stylists walk up to them with what looks like a flame. I nudged Clove and gestured over at them. She looked at them questioningly, wondering what that were going to do with the flame.

We loaded into the chariot and as soon as we stepped on we were off. As we come into the crowd's view they screamed for us. We lifted our hands to wave but before we even got the chance to they erupted into more screams. I caught a glimpse of what they were screaming at on the screen. It was Katniss engulfed in flames like her partner, I think his name is Peeta? But either way, she looked amazing. I couldn't describe her properly. We soon came to the end of the parade and President Snow rambled on and on in his speech. When he was _finally_ done we were carried off to a room where we would meet up with our stylists and mentor. And as our mentors blabbed on and on about how we _stole the show_, when we actually didn't, I watched Katniss and Peeta talk to their mentors. But I couldn't stare for long because they were swept away to their rooms. But it was here eyes that I would never forget. Orbs of gray that could pierce your soul, and I will never forget them.


	3. I Know Her

~Katniss~

Today was the first day of training and I couldn't stop myself from glancing over at Clove or Cato as we received our directions for training. Clove looked ready to train and get her hands on the knives while Cato just looked bored. When the lady was done finished explaining we all went our different ways. I went to the knot station to lock down some knot that might help me. I watched as Clove as she threw the knives with excellent aim at the dummies one after the other. Then I would look over at the boy who meant so much to me, almost as much as Prim, while he chopped up the dummies with his sword. He glanced at me and smirked and I just kept watching him. He got an annoyed look and chopped off the head of another dummy to scare me, and he succeeded. It's like he doesn't know who I am. Does he not remember me?

"See something you like 12?" said the all too familiar voice of Clove. Okay I guess she doesn't remember me either. I rolled my eyes, sighed, and stood up to look at her.

"nope, just a guy who's full of himself. And a girl who thinks she can scare me." I replied. Shock came and went on her face.

"so why aren't you practicing with any weapons? You won't survive on knots."

"i will, just not now. I'm surprised you don't remember my talent." I said to her as she gave me a confused look. I leaned in close to whisper in her ear. "we've only known each other for years. How's your brother Crane?" I said with a smirk as I walked off to the fire starting station.

~Cato~

I had just finished cutting up yet another dummy when Clove walked up to me with a confused face. I saw her talking to Katniss, maybe she found out some things.

"did you find out if she knew the girl from our memories?" I asked

"not exactly. She was staring at you so I asked her if she saw anything she liked."

"and she said?" I asked popping my collar cockily.

"she said she saw a guy who's full of himself and a girl who was trying to scare her. Which I was but anyway what she said next was weird. I asked her why she hasn't worked with any weapons yet."

"what did she say?" I interjected.

"she said that she wasn't going to practice with them yet and but she said she was surprised that _I_ don't remember what her talent was and that I've known her for years. And then she-" she looked around and stepped closer. "she asked about Crane."

"your brother?"

"yeah how does she know about my brother?"

"i don't know. Maybe we can't get it out of her tonight." we looked over at her as she stood at the knives station and she threw one. It land close to the bulls-eye but not exact.

"yeah, we better." Clove said annoyed before walking away.

Later that night when we were done with training and dinner was over, I saw Katniss walk up to the roof. So I grabbed Clove and followed her up there to join her. When we opened the door and we saw her sitting near the edge of the force field at the edge of the roof.

"well well well, now what is District 12 doing up here all alone?" I said loudly, hoping to scare her. But she didn't jump, she didn't even flinch or look back at us. I looked at Clove in disbelief before looking back at Katniss.

"Hey! 12 he was talking to you." Clove shouted at her. She sighed and looked down.

"you two have changed so much since I last saw you" she said and we just stared at her.

"what are you talking about?" Clove and I said in unison.

"well it's nice to know one thing hasn't changed." Katniss said standing up and turning to us.

"what the hell are you talking about 12?" I asked her.

"you really don't remember her do you?" we looked at her confused. "think back, way way back, you were in the meadow between 12 and 2, you saw a tree with a man leaning against it singing as his daughter danced around him. And from then on you were treated like family. Then you introduced her to Clove-" she said gesturing to Clove who shifted uncomfortably. "and she was treated like family as well. Then one day, you two, the girl, and her dad sat by the tree. Your relationship with this girl got more and more distant because he dad died."

"look we know that we used the spend time with this girl but we hardly remember her. Do you know her?" I asked. She raised her eye brows and scoffed.

"yeah sure, I know her. Very well." she said before brushing past us. I grabbed her arm and slammed her against the wall with my hands on her arms.

"then tell us." I demanded.

"make me douche bag." she retorted before spitting in my face. I shoved her to the ground and I heard something crack. When I looked down at her blood was running down from her nose.

"you deserved that 12." she glared before walking out through the door. We stood there for a few seconds before leaving too.

~Katniss~

When I walked back into my apartment Effie, Peeta, and Haymitch were sitting in the living room talking. Effie was the first to notice me.

"Oh my goodness what happened? Avox get her something quick."

"what happened sweetheart?" Haymitch said.

"i was up on the roof and Cato and Clove came and-"

"oh well that explains it. What did you say to them? What did they say to you? What the hell-" Haymitch started until I interrupted.

"i know them! Well knew I guess."

"what?" they all said at once.

"well 2 is across the meadow and when I was little my dad would take me into it. One day I met Cato there and we became friends later he introduced me to Clove and we became friends too. Like they were my brother and sister friends. And when my dad died we grew apart. They've changed and they don't remember me." I explained and they looked at me shocked.

"i can't believe this." Effie said.

"we can totally use this?" Haymitch shouted and laughed drunkenly. I gaped at him.

"how?"

"against them of course. We can make them look like horrible friends because they forgot about you duh." I glared at him.

"no, no one else can know about it. I was the one who stopped writing them, I was the one who stopped going to the meadow. If they remember that I was the one who broke up the friendship, they will kill me. They are trained killers to kill for any or no reason, this certainly will be one." I shouted at them standing up. An Avox handed me a rag to stop the bleeding, I took it and stormed off to my room. I sat there on my bed until the bleeding stopped. And when it finally did I laid down to try and get some sleep. And I did, some hours later.


	4. You Lost Me

~Cato~

All through training, I watched her, as much as I could. She knew the girl from my memory, my very distant memory. But she wouldn't tell me or Clove who the girl is, and that frustrated me. We tried to talk to her, corner her, something, to get her to talk but every time she won't say a word. She stays silent to the point that we leave her out of frustration. It's the last day of training and I intend on talking to her, because tomorrow is the interviews and after that, we are enemies. Whether she knows the girl or not.

She stood up and walked away from the edible plants station to the food cart where they were serving lunch. She hardly talked to anybody today, not even Peeta. She grabbed her food and sat down at a table, and a short time later, Bread Boy sat down next to her. I looked at Clove and jerked my head in their direction. She understood and followed me over to their table with our trays of food. Loudly, we sat down in front of them. Peeta jumped and it didn't phase Katniss. Isn't she scared of us? When we sat down I got a closer look of her face and saw that her nose had a purple tint to it. Did I do that when I threw her to the ground last night? Whatever, I put the thought out of my head and glared at her.

"are you willing to talk now Girl on Fire?" I snarled.

"nope." she said simply.

"and why the hell not? We are being very nice to you right now and that's gonna end when we get into the arena." Clove said next to me.

"because I don't feel like talking. Not right now at least." she said and stood up from the table, taking her tray and setting it on the cart. She walked to the door where Peacekeepers stood guard and with a few words, they let her through. Clove and I glared at her exit then turned to Peeta.

"how do you put up with that?" I ask him.

"you get used to it." he said sharply before following in Katniss's footsteps out the door.

~Katniss~

Today is the day, the day of the interviews. Where I will somewhat reveal the truth of how I know Clove and Cato, but I won't mention them by name. I stood in my dress in front of a set of three mirrors with Cinna.

"don't worry, you look incredible. And don't worry about Cato or Clove. If they don't remember their friend then it's their loss. Okay?" he said to me as he rested a hand on my shoulder and used the other to tuck a strand of hair behind my ear. I nodded to him and he ushered me out of the room to the stage where the interviews will take place. Peeta and I were the last ones to arrive and he got there just before me. As he was taking his seat I was walking through the door, all eyes turned to me. Some of the female Tributes stared at me in jealousy of Cinna's dress that he put me in. But the male Tributes looked at me as if they have never seen me before. Peeta stood up as I walked over to him.

"you look great." he said with a soft smile and I gave him a small one back before sitting down.

Caeser came out onto the stage and started the show. One by one the Tributes went up for their interviews, but I wasn't really paying attention, all I know was Cato was playing up to killer in him and Clove was being the sneaky lethal girl that she now is. But now it was my turn, I slowly walked up on stage as he introduced me to the crowd.

"Well well well, Katniss you look great tonight."

"thank you but the real thanks goes to my stylist Cinna." I said and everybody clapped for him.

"that was quite the entrance at the parade the other night. Those flames were amazing, now tell us were they real?"

"yes they were and I'm wearing them tonight." I smiled.

"may we see them?" he asked and I stood up and twirled for them. They all clapped and cheered for it. As I slowed down Caeser stood up to help me sit down because I was a little dizzy. "those are beautiful Katniss, thank you for that. Now I have a few more questions for you."

"okay." I said to him

"now I think we were all touched when you volunteered for you sister, Prim. Did she come say goodbye to you?" he asked and I nodded. "what did she say?"

"she asked me to try to win for her, and I told her that I would. That I would try to win for her."

"and try you will. Now what do you think about being in the Games, certainly it has to be a little scary for you." he suggested.

"it's something different. I can't really explain it. I guess all that I think about it getting back to my friends and family. But I don't think I'll have many friends after this." I said with a sad look, looking at the floor.

"what ever do you mean? If you come back then your friends should be happy for you."

"yes, well I don't think they'll forgive me for volunteering, even if it was for Prim. You see they are from another district. So if I do come back alive then I won't see them very much, not much more than I do now. And if I die in the arena, I'll loose them forever." I said wiping my face, acting like I shed a tear. He took my hand and squeezed it.

"well I'm sure that we all hope you survive so you can get back to them, because they'll have to be happy that you're alive. Katniss Everdeen the Girl One Fire!" he said standing up, bringing me with him, holding my hand above my head. I looked at the crowd, watching them cheer for my sadness. Eventually my eyes landed on Cato and Clove, who's eyes were filled with shock and grief. Had they realized that I was the girl they were so curious about? I sat back down in my seat and stared at the ground as Peeta had his interview. Everybody loved him, how could you not? He had a personality that everybody could get along with. But then he did the unthinkable, he professed everything in front of everybody.

"Because...she came here with me." I didn't have to look to see the cameras trained on me. I kept my face expressionless. That would come into play later, but right now I just wanted to get out of here. When the interviews were finally over, I heard people call my name, Haymitch, Peeta, Effie, Cinna, Clove, Cato, everybody. But I didn't want to hear it. I ran to the elevator and soared up to the apartment, and when I got there I kicked off my shoes and ran to my room, where I shed the beautiful dress and slipped on black pants and a green shirt. After I slipped on my boots I ran out of the apartment, past Peeta, Cinna, Effie, and Haymitch, and went to the roof.

When I made it to the roof I went to the edge, looked out at the crowd of people in the streets, and screamed at the top of my lungs. After I had screamed until I couldn't breathe anymore, I heard a door open behind me.

"We always said you had some lungs on you. Guess that hasn't changed." I heard from behind me. That voice, was the voice that had been crude to me the past few days. A voice that was so different from the one I knew, from the Cato I knew. I slowly turned to face him and Clove who stood by the door with sympathetic looks on their faces. I stepped off the ledge towards them, still keeping a few feet between us, and looked at them.

"it took all of this to make you remember." I stated sounding annoyed. They looked from the ground, to each other, and back to me.

"We're sorry we forgot. I don't know how it happened." Clove said as if begging for forgiveness, but it isn't them who should be begging. It should be me. I was the one who stopped writing or visiting, I cut off the communication, therefore cutting off the friendship.

"i do." I said.

"what do you mean?" Cato asked.

"i stopped writing and going to the meadow. After my dad died I promised myself that I would take care of Prim and my mother, I didn't have time to be with you guys because I had to hunt to survive. It's my fault."

"but we should have remembered you though. That has no excuse. You remembered us, we should have done the same." Clove said stepping closer to me, with Cato following behind her.

"it doesn't matter anymore." I said folding my arms around me.

"what are you talking about?" Cato asked me confused.

"tomorrow we are in the arena, and friends or not we have to be enemies to survive. Only one of us comes out. I don't want to kill anybody but I have to get back to Prim, she needs me and my mother does too. It doesn't matter anymore."

"but we can ally together! We can leave Marvel and Glimmer and ally with you." he shouted desperately.

"like that will change anything! We will still have to kill each other in the end!" I shouted back.

"please, Katniss. We just got you back, we don't want to loose you again."

"the day my dad died is the day that you lost me. The Katniss you knew, who was free spirited and fun loving isn't here anymore. I hunt to live, I kill to survive, I have killed just like you have trained for. None of us are the same as we used to be. Not even me." I said before brushing past them to the door. I opened the door and hesitated, I looked back at their saddened faces as a tear slipped from my eye. "I'm sorry." I said lastly before walking out the door and on the friendship.

~Cato~

I stared at the door Katniss had just walked out of. I feel as if a part of my heart had just been ripped out of me, if not all of it. I silently wept as I realized the truth of her words. One of us comes out alive, only one.

"we have to protect her, we have to figure something out to save her." Clove demanded next to me. I looked down at her and sighed.

"i know we do but how?"

"i don't know, somehow we have to keep the rest of the careers away from her. And I don't believe this whole, star crossed lovers crap. There's no way that she loves him back."  
"oh I know she doesn't. She never spoke about it." I said shaking my head.

"yeah but there were so many years that we didn't see her. How could we have forgotten about her?" she thought out loud.

"i think I know how I did. I got so mad about not seeing her as often as we did that I took all my anger out on training, I guess I got so angry that I forgot what I was really mad about."

"yeah, I guess that's what happened to me too. Hey Cato?"

"yeah?"

"back when we were little, you said that you had a crush on her. Do you still?" she asked me timidly. I fell silent. Of course I still did, but it's more than just a crush now. Now that I remember her, all my of feelings came back and more.

"it's bigger than just a crush now Clove, it's way bigger. But she's right, it doesn't matter anymore. Starting tomorrow, we are enemies."

"but I don't want to be enemies." this was the first time I had ever seen Clove show weakness, never had she made the face of defeat and sadness before. At least not that I have seen. But then again, I never thought that I would fall in love with a girl from another District.


	5. I'm Not Ready

~Cato~

The next morning when I woke up, I dreaded it. I know I should be happy because I'd be able to go into the games, kill everybody, and bring honor to my District. But not this time, this time I have to go against my best friend, Clove, and the love of my life, Katniss. And I don't want to do that. I don't want to hurt the only few good things in my life.

I stood up and got dressed in my black pants and tan shirt for the games. There was a knock on my door and it opened to reveal Clove.

"I'm not ready." she says sadly.

"me neither. But we have to go." I said as I put a hand on her shoulder and walked her out to the main room. Our mentors brought us down to the bottom floor where we get on the hovercraft. Clove and I took our seats as we watched the rest of the Tributes walk out. The last one to arrive was Katniss, Clove and I glanced at each other as Katniss said a few more words to her mentor before she walked on board. She sat down and didn't look at us. She just looked at her hands or the floor. Peeta who sat on her left tried getting her to talk but it didn't work. I could tell that Clove felt really awkward sitting on her right. But they didn't try to talk. We are supposed to hate each other. That's the way that we always acted around each other. But things had changed for the worse and the better. The worse because only one comes out, and for the better because we almost had our friend back.

We sat there as we got our trackers in our arms. Katniss didn't even flinch when they stuck her in the arm. It makes me wonder what she has been through all those years that we don't talk. I looked at Clove who looked anxious to get into the arena, I know that she has wanted to get into the arena since she started training and now she has the chance to. I have been the same way since I was five, I wanted to get into the games and win. But now I don't know if I want to be here anymore. I don't want Katniss to die, not by my hands, not by someone else, never. She didn't deserve to die. Although, when you think about it, no one here does.

~Katniss~

I didn't feel anything, I couldn't, I was numb from the feeling that this is actually happening. I sat in my seat in the hovercraft between Peeta and Clove and I could feel them passing glances at me. But I didn't return them, I just looked at the ground. Soon enough the craft landed and I was taken to a room where Cinna was waiting with my jacket. He hugged me and wished me luck after silently showing me the mockingjay pin. I mouthed a thanks to him and he nodded. They gave me a thirty second warning to get into the giant glass tubes that will bring me up into the arena. When I stepped in, I was instantly brought up.

The light was blinding, it took twenty seconds for my eyes to adjust before I saw that the arena was a forest. Perfect, I thought, just what I needed. I glanced around at all of the weapons in the Cornucopia before glancing around at the other Tributes. Peeta looked at me and shook his head, tellming me not to go for the bow and arrows. But then I glanced at Clove who was itching to get her hands on the belt of knives, I looked a few Tributes way and saw Cato who had a look of anticipation on his face. He wants those weapons, and anybody who came in his way was going o die. I can see it. The gong rang off and everybody sprinted towards the Cornucopia but Peeta and a few others who took to the trees. I sprinted off towards a neon orange bag, grabbed it, and slid it on my back. A Tribute running ahead of me fell from a knife being thrown at the back of his neck. I lifted my bag over my head as a knife hit it. I turned o see who threw it and I saw Clove with a shocked and regretful look on her face. She didn't mean to throw that knife.

"I'm sorry." she mouthed and I took off for the tress. I kept running until I couldn't run anymore. When I finally stopped I took my pack out from behind me and I emptied it. I had rope, some matches, a water bottle that was empty, some chain links, and a sleeping bag. I put everything back in the bag and got up to start walking and hunt for food. I set up a few snares that could catch a rabbit or squirrel. Finally I caught one and started a small fire to cook it over. When it was fully cooked I put out the fire and ate my rabbit right off the stick I cooked it on. I kept walking, I walked until I had finished eating and then some. I came to a small river and tested it to make sure it was safe to drink, and when it was I gulped some down and filled my bottle, then I kept walking. Things were getting warm, not temperature warm. But fire warm. I stared ahead as a wall of fire came closer and closer to me. So I took off running the way I came, fire balls flew at my sides.

I dodged a ball of flames and landed hard on the ground, I looked up and saw another one coming, I rolled out of the way but it still caught my leg. I screamed in pain as my flesh burned, but I had to keep going. I got up and sprinted the best that I could. I could tell that this was Capitol fire, synthetic fire. I finally came to a bigger river than the one I found and dove in. the water stung on my burn but it soon soothed it. I sighed in relief and looked back at the fire, noticing that it was no longer chasing after me. Distant laughing and shouting caught my attention, I looked up to see the career pack running to the water smiling. Clove and Cato leading them. Marvel, Glimmer, and Peeta trailed behind them. I felt betrayed by Peeta, he knew about my secret and is now allied with them, as if throwing it in my face.

"Hey! There she is!" Marvel shouted and they started running to me. The look on Cato's and Clove's face told me to run for my life, to do what I have to do to get away, and that they were sorry. While Peeta's said get out. I took off running again, my leg screaming at me to stop, and I eventually do when I get to tree that I can climb. I go as far up as my leg will let me.

"Where you going Katniss?" Glimmer shouted.

"get her Cato!" said Marvel.

"Where you going baby?" Came from Cato himself. "yeah you better run." he continued. I almost snorted at his hidden message.

"Go, come on!" Clove shouted, again I nearly laugh. But Peeta kept quiet. They finally made it to my tree and stared up at me.

"how the weather up there Girl on Fire?" Cato mocked, giving me a smirk that I knew so well.

"a little too hot but I'm getting used to it." I retorted, his brows furrowed and I shook my head slightly.

"well get her Cato!" Glimmer demanded. He nodded and started climbing, but as he got closer he winked and pretended to struggle, finally he grabbed a branch too brittle for his weight and muscle that he dropped to the ground with a loud thud. "god I'll do it myself." Glimmer continued as Cato gave her an angry looked mixed with disbelief. She shot an arrow that landed in a branch above my head, I didn't even have to dodge it. I grabbed it and waved it to them, letting them know I have it. She glared at me.

"give me that." ordered Marvel as he took the bow and an arrow and shout another one, landing in the same spot, I grabbed that one and held on to it.

"let's just wait her out." Peeta said, they all looked at him, Glimmer and Marvel with confusion, Cato and Clove with hope mixed with anger. "I mean she has to come down sometime, it's that or starve."

"fine, someone make a fire." Cato ordered as he got up. They all walked in different directions but Clove and Peeta remained. He looked at me with sad eyes as did Clove.

"are you okay?" she mouthed and I just shook my head. Peeta took it as a sign of shock saying, I can't believe you, and Clove took it as an actual no.

After the two had left the base of my tree I shifted on my branch so my back was to the trunk. I pried the cloth of my pants off of my burn and stared at it, welts and blood came from my leg, I took my water bottle out and tempted to pour some onto the burn to soothe it, I gave a small gasp and bit my lip hard enough to draw blood. I heard shuffling down below and saw Cato looking up at me. I looked back to my burn and poured a little more water, closing my eyes and biting the collar of my jacket to muffle my gasps of pain. Finally I press my sleeve to my burn to stop the bleeding, but that only made it hurt worse. When I glanced back down at him he had a sympathetic look on his face and walked back to where Clove and Marvel were making a fire. I glared down at them. I don't want their help, I don't need it. So why do they insist on it?


	6. More Than Anything

~Cato~

We walked through the trees to find any Tributes when Clove spoke up.

"Smoke!" she shouted.

"and a lot of it." Marvel agreed.

"you don't think the other Tributes allied together do you?" Glimmer said huskily by my side. I moved away a few inches.

"no that's not a man made fire, too much smoke. That looks like..." I started but I couldn't bare to finish my sentence, because my heart sunk just thinking about it. Oh no Katniss.

"it looks like synthetic fire." Clove finished. She looked at me worriedly and we took off running. We were all thirsty, so if we came across water we would likely stop for a drink. We kept our eyes on the sky to see if the smoke ever stopped, and finally it did, with no cannon. Thank god, I hope it wasn't Katniss running from it. We finally made it to the river shouting in excitement and I was about to dive into it when Marvel spoke up.

"hey there she is!" he shouted pointing with his spear. Katniss. We all took off running to her, shouting after her. I hated putting up this act that I don't know her, and I know Clove hates it too. But we kept running, Clove and I shouting hidden messages for her to run as fast as she could. Finally we stopped at a base of a tree that she had started climbing and I shouted up to her.

"how the weather up there Girl on Fire?" I asked with a smirk I know she loved.

"it's a little to hot but I'm getting used to it." she mocked. I furrowed my brows in confusion and she shook her head. After hearing Glimmer shout at me I climbed up after her, but after winking at her I grabbed a bad branch on purpose and fell. Glimmer shot an arrow up to her to my hidden horror but thankfully it missed. Which only encouraged Marvel to try as well. Katniss now had two arrows but no bow.

"let's just wait her out." we all looked at him, but Clove and I looked at him with hidden hope. "I mean she has to come down sometime, it's that or starve." I thought about it and how smart he was. But I knew what he was doing, he was buying her time because of his _feelings_ for him, which still make me jealous as hell. The only reason I haven't killed him yet for it is because Katniss would never forgive me for it.

"fine, someone make a fire." I ordered and started walking to clear the area for camp.

As time went by I looked up at Katniss and she looked in pain, her small gasp caught my attention and she was biting her lip hard. She was hurt, I know she is, but how can I help her. I walked back to the fire but sat a little distance away from everybody. Clove came and sat next to me.

"she's hurt." she said softly.

"i know, it's a burn from the fire." I said as I started at the flames.

"how do we help her?" she whispered to me.

"i don't know." I looked around and saw that everybody was asleep except for me, Clove, and Katniss, my Girl on Fire. I looked at Clove and gestured towards Katniss. We stood up and walked over to her tree.

"Psst!" I said earning a look from Katniss. I gestured her to come down and she started climbing down slowly and carefully, she came close but not all the way down.

"what?" she whispered sharply.

"what happened?" Clove asked

"the Capitol thought they needed a spark, literally. I got hit with a fire ball." she said pointing to her leg, it looked bad but not as bad as it could have started out as.

"do you need anything?" I asked her.

"burn medicine would be great but my District never gets any parachutes." she said sadly.

"well not this year, they all love you. You'll get one I'm sure." Clove reassured.

"Kat, you know all you have to do is ask and we'll ally with you right?" I asked and he nodded.

"but it'll be harder in the end." she said softly. I leaned forward and kissed her cheek before she climbed back up, but she stopped abruptly. "be ready to run tomorrow." she warned.

"why?" Clove and I whispered together. She pointed to high up into the trees and we saw a Tracker Jacker nest up on a branch. We nodded in understanding and walked back to the fire and the Girl on Fire climbed up to her branch get some sleep. As we sat down by the fire, we heard a beeping sound of a parachute. Clove and I looked up in surprise as it floated to Katniss and she opened it up to find medicine. She opened it up and took out a card before dropping it down to us.

Apply generously, stay alive, good luck, whatever you're doing keep it up, and I'm sorry about your friends.

-H

Clove and I looked at each other and back up to Katniss as she applied the medicine to her burns. I sighed as I looked at her.

"you really love her don't you?" Clove whispered to me.

"more than anything." I replied and she nodded before laying down on her sleeping bag. She had a plan up her sleeve, and I'm sure I'm not going to like it.

~Clove~

I knew he loved her, and I knew how much too. I've known ever since I first saw them together. The way they acted around each other was much different than the way he was around me. But now I promise myself, no I vow, that I will do everything and anything I can to make sure that these two end up together. Even if it means that I have to die myself for it to happen. I won't kill Peeta because she will never forgive me for it. And I can't kill Rue, because she reminds me of Prim, and I know that if she reminds me of Prim, then she will for Katniss as well. And it will make Katniss imagine me killing her sister, our sister and I could never do that. I know I have to figure out a way for Cato and Katniss to be together, but I don't know how I can do that.

**Author Note: SORRY for the short chapter but the next one will be longer. Thank you so so so much for all of the reviews, alerts, and favorites on this story. I'm a first time writer so it means a lot. I have posted this on my profile but I'll post it here. I do not own The Hunger Games!**


	7. I Won't Kill You

~Katniss~

The next day I woke up before Cato and Clove, and the rest of the Careers. I looked up at the nest and saw that they had yet to wake up. So I climbed up so that I could reach it. I broke off a piece of a branch and dropped it down on Cato, waking him up instantly. He looked up at me and I pulled out the knife that Clove mistakenly threw at me and waved it at him. He nodded and woke up Clove quietly before they got up and silently ran off. And that is when I started sawing. Tracker Jackers started waking up and flying out around me as I was half way through the branch, and they weren't happy. I was stung in the neck and the wrist before the branch finally broke and fell to the ground. Peeta, Marvel, and Glimmer thrashed and screamed about before the men got up and ran off, Glimmer wasn't so lucky, she was stung too many times to see where she was going properly.

I dizzily climbed down the tree after the jackers left and looked around, everything was spinning, and I was seeing things, rabbits with two heads, deer with three eyes, and Caeser walking around the forest. I walked over to where Glimmer's sickly green body lay and pried the bow and arrows from her lifeless body. I ran as far as I could until I eventually passed out.

When I woke up again, I looked around, my bow and arrows were leaning against a fallen tree, and I had leaves on my neck and arms where the stings should be. As I continued to look around I saw some brown hair hide behind a tree. Rue. I stood up, grabbing my things and walking over to her.

"Rue?" I asked as she moved from behind the tree. "don't worry, I won't hurt you." she smiled at me softly and with that we formed an alliance. An hour or so later we sat near a tiny fire eating what used to be a squirrel, she ate her's rather quickly like she didn't get enough to eat, so I gave her some of mine.

"really? I can have more?" she asked in shock.

"yeah of course." I said to her and she took it.

"back home the younger ones have limited meals, we don't always get enough to eat." she said before biting into the leg I handed her.

"how long was I out?"

"a couple days, and the guy from ten and the girl from one are both gone." she says staring at the ground.

"the boy from my district?"

"fine.

"and both from two?" I asked unable to contain my nerves.

"both fine." she said with a slight smile. "they are by the Cornucopia with Marvel and a boy from three with all of the supplies piled into a pyramid." she explained.

"sounds tempting." I said with a sly smile. Cato and Clove will hate me for this but I have to do it. I got up and started walking and Rue followed, as we walked I explained my plan, when I was done we fell into a comfortable silence for a while.

"so is it true that you and the two from two are friends?" she asked me.

"yep, we have been for years. But we had a falling out and they forgot about me for a while until the games. Now they are trying to help me." I said looking at her every now and then.

"so what are they going to think when we blow up their stuff?"

"they'll understand and if not then they have to get over it. It isn't like we haven't gotten into arguments. My parents treated them like they were my brother and sister." I said to her with a small smile as I recalled a time where I argued with Clove the proper way to shoot an arrow when I first met her. As it turns out, the academy had been doing it wrong for quite some time. We made to to a few feet from the tree line of the field where the Cornucopia was and set up piles of wood and leaves for a smoky fire.

"now remember when this starts smoking you run cause it'll get bad." I reminded and she nodded. "hey don't worry, I'll be back for dinner." I said and we figured out a sign before I left to the tree line.

I watched as Marvel caught sight of the smoke and they took off. The boy from three was sitting there keeping watch but looked up when he heard Foxface run behind him. As the boy walked off to investigate the sounds he heard, I took that as my chance. I stepped forward a little bit and readied my arrow. I shot it and only made a small rip in the bag of apples I was aiming for, so I stepped closer and shot again.

One by one the apples tumbled down to the ground and one finally landed on a mine. The explosion was insane. The waves from it blew me onto my back a few feet from where I was standing. There was a ringing in my ear and my vision was blurred. I saw Cato, Marvel, Clove, and the District 3 Tribute walk back to the clearing.

"what happened?" Cato said angrily.

"i don't know! I swear, I was right over there." the boy shouted.

"you were supposed to be over here keeping watch!" he shouted.

"i heard another Tribute! I'm sorry I-" but he didn't get to finish because Cato snapped his neck. I stared at him in awe, he could kill that easily and it scared me. I faintly heard the cannon but I wasn't paying attention. Clove ran up to stand in front of him and gestured with her head behind her, to me. He moved his angry glared up to me ad it softened to a shocked and worried expression. I shook my head the best that I could and got up to run. I ran to where the second fire should have been but it hasn't been lit yet and that's when I heard it.

"KATNISS!" shouted Rue. My legs pushed themselves to find her before I realized it. I found her under a net struggling. I ran over and cut her free. As soon as she was out of the trap she stood up and hugged me. She gasped and looked over my shoulder and that's when I saw Marvel, he threw one of his spears but I dodged it and shot an arrow at his throat. All I heard was silence, I turned back to Rue to see her pulling the spear out of her stomach. I held her, in my arms, as tears fell from my eyes and hers.

"you're okay, you're going to be okay." I sobbed.

"did you blow up the food?" she asked softly. I sniffed and nodded. "good. You have to win." she whispered.

"I'll try."

"can you sing?" I nodded and sang the song that my dad taught me when I was little. I closed her eyes and stood up to gather wild flowers to lay around her before the Gamemakers came to take her away. As I picked them, I heard the tread of two familiar people as well, I looked up and saw Clove and Cato picking flowers as well. When I saw them I hugged them tightly, and they responded just as tightly. Slowly we laid the flowers around Rue and I couldn't stop shedding tears, but they never did. Of course that was what they were trained to do, no to show weakness. When we finished setting the flower around her we stood up and started walking away, until I stopped and pressed three fingers to my lips and lifted them up high into the air, the sign from my district. I turned back around and walked with Cato and Clove. As we walked I muffled my cries even thought Cato walked next to me and held my hand.

"It's going to be okay Katniss, it's going to be okay, she's in a better place now."

"she reminded me of my sister, she reminded me of Prim." I said and he hugged me close, I buried my head into his chest and I cried silently.

"Attention Tributes, there is an announcement. There has been a slight rule change to the games. The last two Tributes standing in the games will be crowned the Victors of the Hunger Games. May the odds be ever in your favor."

I wasn't sure how to feel, there is a chance that Cato and I could go home together, but what about Clove? One out of the three of us has to die. It still isn't fair.

"Guys watch out!" she shouted as she shoved us out of Thresh's trail of his blade. He thrashed about with his ax and he and Cato fought at it.

The next thing I know, Peeta came out fighting with a spear and knife. Clove and I fought against him. We were evenly matched, I never knew he could fight this well. When had he paired up with Thresh? But that didn't matter, right now I was fighting for me life with my two best friends. Peeta hit me in the stomach and knocked the wind out of me, which sent Clove into a rage, she had him pinned on the ground. We heard the sound of a cannon and I looked around to see who it was, but nobody in this fight was dead, it must have been Foxface. But then we heard another cannon. Cato was still fighting with Thresh so I turned back to Clove and Peeta to see who it was, and my heart almost stopped.

Clove was slumped over Peeta, still sitting on top of him with a knife coming from her stomach. Peeta's hand was latched onto it. Her eyes were blank as his were glistening in the light as he stared at what he had done. He shoved her off of him and stood up and looked at me.

"you bitch!" I shouted at him as I lunged at him. We fought around on the ground and I punched him square in the jaw and stomach. He doubled over in pain while I heard a scream from behind me, I spun around thinking the worst but only to find out Cato had sliced Thresh's leg open. And with that, Thresh took off leaving Peeta here. Cato wiped his sword off on the grass to clean the blood off and Peeta took off after Thresh. This was the first time that Cato realized that Clove was dead. At the sight of her he dropped to his knees and screamed at the top of his lungs, so loud that the mockingjays screeched the tunes after him. He sat the with his hands in his hair and forehead against he bloody stomach. I went next to him and wrapped my arms around him. He had lost his closest friend, before me. He had known her longer and looked at her like a sister. If we make it out of here alive we have to do something for her and her family. We sat there and cried. We took all of her knives and ours and laid them around her, these were the things she loved most after her family and us. I had to drag Cato away from her when the Gamemakers came to take her away, and after that we walked, for who knows how long. Finally when we were both tired we sat down by a fire. We both leaned against a tree with me tucked under his arm as his head rested on mine. We stared at the fire not saying a thing.

"i remember the first time I met her. It was in the academy and I was learning with the swords and I heard a thud from the knives. I looked over and saw her throw one. It was a gift she had throwing those things. And when I went to throw one and missed, she helped me."

"i remember when you introduce me to her. We hated each other at first because she thought I was beneath her, but when she saw me shoot and met my dad, we started to get along."

"and she kept saying that you belonged in District 2 instead of 12 because of you shooting skills. You know after a while I believed her. But then..."

"but then my dad died. And I stopped going to the meadow."

"you can't blame yourself for the whole thing Kat. We understand." he said into my hair softly. I nodded and snuggle closer to him. "we could go home you know? With Thresh hurt like he is, he won't survive."

"what about Peeta?"

"i don't know, maybe something will happen with him and Thresh."

"i don't want him to die, but I want it to be you that goes back with me." I said softly and he kissed my hair, making me smile softly.

"then let's hope he doesn't die at our hands." he said and with that we heard a cannon, just before the anthem started playing. We looked up and saw the Fallen, Clove, Foxface, and Thresh. "well we're screwed." he said trying to lighten the mood. I nudged him slightly and he chuckled. Then everything fell quiet, I knew he was thinking about Clove, so the rest of the night we talked about the things that we did together, and how we wish we could go back to the way things were, when Clove was alive, when my dad was alive, when we were kids, those were out happiest moments of our lives. All of the sudden thing started to turn really cold, and windy.

"what's going on?" I asked him.

"the wind is blowing towards the Cornucopia. Let's go!" we stood up and started walking or running, half way there when the wind suddenly stopped. And it was quiet, too quiet. A growl came from our far left and we took that as a sign to run. Just as we started moving, a mutant dog jumped out of the bushes to where we were just standing. We ran for it, farther than our legs could push us, and harder than our lungs could breathe. We finally made it to the Cornucopia with a goo twenty feet between us and the mutts, Cato helped me up onto it and I pulled him up. We stood up there watching the Mutts when I was suddenly pulled back, Cato whipped around and stopped short, Peeta.

"you don't deserve her." he growled.

"and you're any better? You killed her best friend besides me! What kind of friend is that?" Cato shouted at him.

"you don't love her like I do!"

"like you even know what love is!"

They argued back and forth and all the while Peeta's grip on me got tighter and tighter to the point where I can hardly breathe. It took all of the strength I had to lift my leg to kick his leg and he let go, Cato took the opportunity to lung at Peeta and fight him. Punch after punch, and kick after kick they fought. Finally Cato had him up and standing, he was mad and I could tell. Peeta stood a few feet in front of us with his back to the edge. He looked over his shoulder at the mutts then back at us.

"I'll never make it out will I?" he thought out loud. I knew what he was going to do.

"No-" I started but it was too late, he had already stepped backwards off the Cornucopia and into the pack of Mutts. His screams echoed in my ears, I heard him plead to end it so I took my one arrow and loaded it into my bow.

"Are you sure?" Cato asked me.

"i have no choice, this," I sighed to hold back my tears. "this is quicker." and I let the arrow fly down to him. His cries of pain stopped instantly and the dogs walked off, leaving Cato embracing me on top of the Cornucopia as I cried. Night turned to day and still nothing was said about us victors that is until we heard the voice of Caeser.

"Attention Tributes, the rule change from before has been revoked." he said and his voice was gone. I stared at Cato in disbelief. He reached over and grabbed an arrow and handed it to me.

"Go ahead, shoot. You have to get back to Prim." he said and I shook my head.

"I won't kill you."

"and I won't kill you." I grabbed another arrow from my back and handed it to him. I pointed mine to where his heart should be and pointed his at mine.

"Together." I said.

"one." he started.

"two." I continued as he pulled the elastic from my braid and ran his fingers through it.

"Thr-"

"stop! Stop!" boomed Caeser's voice. "ladies an gentlemen, may I introduce the Victors of the 74th Hunger Games." I looked at Cato in awe, like I have never seen him before. I was wrapped in his arms within seconds as I happily cried into his chest. A loud buzzing sounded above us and we saw a hovercraft here to take us back to the Capitol and a ladder descended down to us. While keeping one arm around me, Cato reached out to grab it and we froze in place as it lifted us up. Once we were in we were torn apart. I kicked and thrashed around as he called my name but suddenly I couldn't hear him anymore, because my world faded to black as a needle pierced my arm.

The next time I awoke I was in a bright white room. Lights shined above me almost blindingly. Tubes were hooked up to my arms and machines beeped around me. But there was a pressure on my hand, or in it. I looked down at it and I saw Cato resting in a chair as his hand gripped mine. He was free of any scars or injuries. He looked like the Cato I knew, that I still know. And how he looks when he sleeps, he looks like a kid again, he looks like he did when he, Clove, and I used to play in the meadow.

Clove.

I missed her so much that it hurt. I couldn't believe that it had been Peeta that killed her. He swore he never would do anything to hurt me. But he did anyway. He killed my best friend besides Gale or Cato. But in the end I was the one to kill him. He pleaded for and end, and I gave it to him, whether it was the way he wanted or not. Silently, tears slipped down my face as I thought of all the good times I had with Clove, or with Clove, Cato, and I. They were the happiest moments of my life, how her and I hunted together sometimes, or she taught me how to throw knives better, and I taught her to shoot an arrow. Or when we just goofed off. When I get out of here, Cato and I will visit her family if at all possible. I sucked in a breath and wiped away the tears. My movement caused Cato to stir and when he looked at me he smiled.

"Hey," he said softly. "you're awake. How are you feeling?" he asked me while he pressed his free hand to my cheek. I would be lying if I said I didn't lean into his touch, because I did as I held back the tears that wanted to shed.

"tired, drained, haunted, sad, and numb. I can't shake her Cato." he knew the "her" I was talking about. He leaned forward and kissed my head before pressing his forehead to mine.

"i know, she's with me too." and before he could say anything else, Haymitch walked through the door.

"finally you're awake, congratulations you two, you've won. But now President Snow is not happy."

"because?" I asked.

"because you showed them up, and they didn't get the "star crossed lovers" bit that they wanted."

"so? I'm not going to act like I'm in love with someone who I clearly don't love." I retorted and I felt Cato stiffen beside me.

"doesn't matter! They wanted it and they didn't get it. And now they really want it. Which means you two, have to play that part. I don't care if it makes it awkward between you because of some friendship, it has to happen if you want those you love to survive."

"what do you mean those we love to survive?" Cato asked.

"he has threatened that he'll kill your friends and family if you don't do as he wants. Which means for you Cato, your mom, little brother, and little sister." there was no mention of his dad, because he was no longer with the family, or in this world. He had cheated on Cato's mother soon after his little sister was born. Cheating on your husband or wife is a big No No in Panem, punishable by death. "and you Katniss, that means your mom, Prim, Gale and his family." he continued. I looked down at my hands, I haven't thought about facing Gale, my family, his family, or Mellarks yet. I know I'll have to eventually.

"Gale?" Cato asked. I forgot he doesn't know who he is, I met Gale after my dad died and after I stopped seeing Cato.

"yeah, I met after what happened, he's another friend that I hunted with after my dad died. We helped each other provide for our families." I explained and he just nodded.

"yeah, so you have to play these roles. I don't care how much you don't want to, you have to." and with that he left leaving Cato and I in a silence. He was about to say something but was interrupted when a doctor came in and unhooked me from my tubes. We walked out the door and was attacked in hugs from our stylists.

"thank goodness you're okay." Cinna said as he ushered me away, I looked over my shoulder and saw Cato standing there looking longingly at me. I gave a soft smile, which was returned, before turning back to face ahead of me as I walked to the apartment.

Some time later, I was in a strapless gold gown, with tool overlay and gold sequins covering the bodice and fanning out as the dress meets the floor. My hair fell in it's natural curls down my back and my make-up was light with a touch of gold on my eyes. And finally my mockingjay pin was pinned to my dress. I looked into the mirror at me and back to Cinna.

"you've done it again." I said to him.

"thank you but you make the dress." he said before handing me my gold heels that I've finally learned to walk in, much to Effie's happiness. I walked out slowly from my apartment to the elevator with Cinna and Haymitch.

"now when he asks about why you wanted Cato to survive with you, tell them that you couldn't stand being without him. That after how long you've been without him from your youth, and now you had a chance to have him back, you couldn't think of anything else to do but take it." I nodded to him and he sighed. "good luck." he said quietly before the doors open and I am backstage. I step out and look around for the familiar face that I had been longing to see since I was separated, and I finally found him. He was standing there talking to his mentor wearing a black suit with a white shirt and gold tie. It figures that they would make us match. Cinna and Haymitch walked up to them, saying something, and leading him away. I looked at Haymitch questioningly as he walked back to me.

"we want the reunion to be real when he sees you for the first time out of the hospital. Don't worry, everything is going to be fine." he reassures. I nod in response before he lead me to the side of the stage. Caeser walked out and smiled at the crowd.

"well well well it's about that time again isn't it folks? The interviews of Victor or Victors as it is this year. May I present Cato and Katniss Everdeen from District 2 and 12?" he shouted and gestured behind him. We walked out and Cato stared at me like he had never seen anything before in his life. He scooped me up in his arms and did the one thing I never thought he would do, but something I always hoped for. He kissed me.


	8. Of Course I Do

~Katniss~

His lips are soft on mine as they lightly pressed to my lips with such favor and tentativeness, but when I kissed back he kissed me with more vigor. This is my first kiss, but it sure won't be my last. His arms were wrapped around my waist, pressing me against him, as my arms wrapped themselves around his neck. Caeser came and tried to break us up but Cato just shoved him away a little and continued to kiss me. Eventually we had to breathe so we pulled apart and stared into each others eyes, smiling. He brushed the back of his fingers across my cheek and I leaned into it. He pulled me close and whispered in my ear.

"I have been waiting so long to do that." his breath felt warm against my ears and I giggled. Finally we turned to Caeser and the crowd, with his arm around my waist as we waved to them all. Their screams erupted around us as we smiled and sat down.

"Well well well you two. I take it that you're happy to be out of the games?"

"You have no idea." Cato responded, wrapping his arms tighter around me.

"Well I think we should watch these games how about you?" he said and we watched the games, all three hours of it. I nearly burst out in tears when Rue and Clove were killed. And I knew that Cato was fighting to because his arms became slightly more tighter as he stiffened as he, Clove, and I fought Peeta and Thresh. I buried my head into his shoulder and he wrapped his arms protectively around me. When it was finally over Caeser looked at us.

"Well that was something. You two seem pretty close, closer than you did in the games. Why is that?" he asked. Cato looked at me if I wanted to answer and I just shrugged my shoulders.

"Well we've known each other since we were younger, even being in different Districts, we still had a way of meeting and seeing each other. Katniss, Clove, and I were very close, but Katniss and I were closer still." Cato explained.

"Ah, so there was no love spark between you two? Before now I mean." he asked.

"When I first met Cato, he became my best friend and my family treated him like my brother. But over time I'll admit that I have developed feelings for him. But there was a time that we didn't see each other and those feelings faded, until I saw the recaps of the Reapings where he volunteered and they rose back up and were strong this time." I explained.

"Is that true?" Cato and Caeser asked at the same time.

"One hundred percent." I returned. Cato smiled down at me.

"Cato I take it you are happy by this answer?" Caeser asked.

"I knew the moment I saw her that I would be with her some how." he said looking at Caeser then looking down at me. "And now I can finally have her all to myself." he said looking at me. I smiled at him and kissed his cheek.

"So then what were you thinking when Peeta said that he loved Katniss?"

"At that point I had realized that I had forgotten her and I was angry and jealous because he was able to see her everyday of his life, when I couldn't."

"Forgotten her?"

"Um, yeah. You see when we were young Katniss's father had died in the mines and we lost touch. I was angry because we didn't see or write to one another like we used to so I took my anger out on things I did after school or just in life. It got to the point where I forgot about her but I never forgot the memories, I just never knew who it was in them."

"Did you forget Katniss?"

"Never, there was always something every day that I wanted to talk to him about. And every day I wished I would see him again. But it didn't happen until the games." I said.

"I didn't know who she was until the first interviews. All through training Clove and I had treated her badly, not remembering who she was, but she knew who we were." he looked down at me. "And I am really sorry for all of it." I smiled softly and kissed his lips. "So I'm forgiven?" he asked sweetly.

"Absolutely." I smiled.

"Ah young love. I see a bright future ahead of you two because we are out of time. Ladies and Gentlemen the Victors of the 74th Hunger Games!" he said standing up and bringing us with him. He held Cato's hand in the air and Cato held mine up as well. He lead us off stage where Cato swept me up into his arms and spun me around. I giggled loudly as he twirled me around and set me down.

"Great job you two." Cinna said smiling.

"Yeah, it almost looked like you weren't acing." Haymitch said impressed.

"It's because we're not." Cato said looking down at me as I gazed into his eyes, his arms wrapped around me as I moved closer to him. They looked at us in surprise and lead us to the elevator, the three of them got into it and moved around so Cato and I could fit.

"We'll take the next one." Cato said giving them his signature smirk. They smiled as the doors closed and as soon as they were he brought his lips down to meet mine. I smiled into it and laughed against his lips. I pulled away from him and smiled.

"Just can't get enough can you?" I asked.

"Well now that I've had you, I'm never giving you up." he teased. I smiled again.

"I can't wait until all of this is over." I said, leaning against his chest.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"The tour, the press, all of it so then we can have a normal life." the doors to the elevator dinged and we stepped inside.

"Speaking of which where do you want to live? My family is happy in District 2. Yours can come live with you, or we can use one of our houses to share. If you want." he said sheepishly. I wrapped my hand around his and looked up at him.

"I would love that." he smiled and kissed my forehead. The elevator went up and we spent it in silence. We went through the crowning ceremony and when we were finaly done for the day. Although when we got back to our apartment however, Haymitch was not happy, instead he was nervous for once.

"What wrong?" I asked.

"President Snow wants to talk to you. He's not too happy." he said.

"When is he ever." Cato grunted. I felt my face go pale and my heart beat quicken. Cato squeezed my hand and I let go and went to sit on the couch.

"Why does he want to talk to us." I said, barely a whisper.

"It'll be okay Katniss." Cato said coming to sit next to me.

"Yeah, just go get changed into some normal clothing." we nodded and went to our separate rooms. I changed into black pants with a golden yellow shirt and black shoes. When I walked out, Cato was walking out of his room in a outfit but a black shirt. We looked at each other then to the Peacekeeper that was standing by the door waiting for us. He nodded at us before walking out the door, with us following him. As we got to Presidents Snow's office we found him waiting behind his desk, looking out the window, watching the people out of the streets of Panem.

"So, star crossed lovers huh?" he said.

"Excuse me?" Cato spoke.

"Everybody had a star crossed lovers. That one I was okay with. But this one, I'm not so happy about." he stated eerily calmly.

"Why not sir?" Cato asked.

"Because it gives people more hope, and I don't believe this one is real. Of course I didn't believe in the last one but this one, I believe in less."

"But we do love each other sir, we have for a long time." I started.

"We just didn't realize it until now." Cato finished. Snow finally turned to look at us.

"Prove it."

"What?" we said together.

"Prove to me that you actually love each other."

"How?" Cato asked, he was tensing up and no matter how much I rubbed my thumb over his hand that I held, we would relax. His glare grew deeper and deeper with Snow's silence.

"Oh I don't know. Get married, have children, something that will convince me that you love each other. What ever you see fit." he said before turning back to look out the window. The Peacekeeper escorted us back to the apartment and I knew Cato was furious, I was too, but I didn't show it like he did. When we finally made it back he walked right up to the first vase he saw and threw it across the room.

"What happened?" Haymitch asked us earnestly.

"He doesn't think that we actually love each other." I stated.

"And you do right?" he asked. That alone threw Cato in another rage. He grabbed him by the collar and shoved him against the wall.

"Of course I love her! And she loves me! How dare you question it." he yelled at him.

"Cato calm down!" I shouted.

"Aren't you mad? Aren't you the least bit angry that he still has some control over our lives? And that he doesn't believe that you and I love each other?" he screamed at me.

"Of course I am! But I'm not going to take it out on everything I see." I yelled back at him. He continued to glare before storming out of the room and into the hallway, slamming the door behind him.

"Sweetheart why aren't you going after him?"

"Because I've seen him when he's mad, he needs to cool off." I said before sitting down on the couch. Haymitch walked up behind it and rested his hands on the back of it.

"So what did Snow want you to do to prove to him that you are in love?"

"Get married, have kids, what usual couples do."

"Well no wonder he's mad. He probably wanted to do those on his own terms." I stared at him "Well, you said you're mad that Snow still has control. Isn't it for the same reasons?" he said before walking out of the room to his bedroom. I looked at my hands before walking out the door to where I know Cato would be. The roof.

~Cato~

How dare he? How dare Haymitch question my love for Katniss. How dare Snow order us to get married or have children. This is not the way I wanted things to happen. I wanted to wait until after the tour, to purpose to Katniss in the meadow where we first met, let her say yes like I hoped she would, and I would kiss her. Then have a great weeding that I had dreamed about having with the girl that I loved the most, and what I dreamed of having was what she would have wanted. With my input of course. And have a few kids, maybe a boy and a girl, smaller versions of me and my wife. And that wife would be Katniss, will be Katniss. Only I can't make it happen the way I want. It will turn into some Capitol production. And that is not something that I want. But there is one thing that I do know, and that's that Cinna is going to make Katniss's dress, and she will look beautiful in it, like she does no matter what.

During all of my mental ranting, I never heard the door to the roof open, or someone walk up behind me, not until I felt their hand on my shoulder. I looked up to see the woman I've been thinking about looking down at me with worry.

"You cooled down enough to talk?" she asked, simply I nodded. She sat down next to me and sighed. "I think I know why you're mad." she stated.

"Oh really? Do tell." I snapped.

"You're mad for the same reasons I am. Because we can't get married on our own terms, we have to do this whether we want to or not and trust me I want to but-"

"You do? I interrupted.

"Of course I do." she said turning to me, her hands coming to either side of my face bringing it closer to her's. "Cato there is nothing I want more than to marry you and have a normal life with you. But I'm upset that we can't do it the way we want. We'll never have a normal life anymore. We're the first two tributes to come out alive of one game. Yes we'll be together and married and have children, but it won't be at our own pace." she explained out of breath. I simply stared at her. All I had really heard escape from her lips was that she wanted to marry me. "Cato? Say something."

"I love you." I kissed her full on the lips, she broke away and looked at me confused.

"That was not what I was expecting." she said causing me to roll my eyes.

"I want to marry you too. Just the way I want to, not Snow's." I said with a small smile on my face.

"And what way is that?" she raised her eye brow.

"What ever way you want." I replied smiling. A smile spread across her lips before they kissed mine softly and sweetly.

"Come on, we better get down to bed." she said softly, we stood up and went to the elevator.

~Katniss~

We made it to the apartment and instead of going to our separate rooms, Cato followed me to mine. "What are you doing?" I asked him.

"Well if you're going to be my wife, we might as well get used to sharing a room." he said with a smirk, I laughed and opened the door. I took my clothes and walked into the bathroom to change and when I came out I saw Cato laying on the bed in sleep pants and no shirt, waiting for me. I crawled into bed with him and snuggled up to him as he tucked both of us in. I turned on my side with my back to him and he moved behind me, his arms around my waist holding me to his chest and his hands resting on my stomach. "Good night sweetheart." his warm breath blew in my ear.

"Good night." whispered back to him.


	9. I Do

~Katniss~

Today was to the day. After weeks and weeks of planning, and the big announcement when he purposed in the interview after the Victory Tour, we were finally getting married. I was wearing a thin strap, ball gown, styled dress with a corset bodice and gold glitter decorating the skirt. My shoes themselves were gold and my hair was in loose curl with gold painted flowers woven in. The only jewelry I was wearing was a necklace with a gold chain and a single diamond charm, and the engagement ring, a gold band with a three gems, a ruby in the middle and a small diamond on each side. I stared at the ring before Haymitch walked into my room with mother, Madge, and Prim sitting with me.

"It's time." he said and we all nodded. Haymitch was giving me away, Madge was my maid of honor, and Prim was the flower girl. My mother walked out with us and took her seat. Madge walked out with the best man who was Cato's brother, Graze. When I stepped out, I saw him, he looked down then up at me. His eyes shined bright when he saw me, a smile graced his lips just like mine. He was wearing a black tuxedo with a gold tie, much like he wore in our interviews after we won. I finally reached him and Haymitch handed me over, after giving me a small kiss on my forehead. I didn't hear all of what was said, all I remember is the vows, Cato and I saying "i do" and his lips lightly pressing to mine.

The day passed on in a blur, I hardly remember what had happened. But finally Cato and I were back in our house in the Victor's Village back in Twelve, he was helping me out of by gown.

"I can't believe it." I said unable to contain the smile on my face.

"Me either, but we are, we're married." he said with his hands on my arms and his breath hot on the back of my neck. I stepped out of my dress in my strapless bra and underwear and helped him with his tie while he took off his jacket.

As he took off his shirt I couldn't help but stare, sure I had seen him shirtless before but this time, there was something different. He cupped my face in his hands and kissed me tenderly, but tenderness turned to passion and hunger quickly. His hands slid down to my waist, to my thighs as he lifted me and my legs wrapped themselves around his waist, and my hands tangled themselves into his hair. Before I knew it my back came into contact with the softness of our bed. He never broke the kiss and he dropped me on the bed and followed. Little by little our clothing scattered the floor as we continued our heated make-out session. Being caught up in the moment, I hadn't noticed the pain in the lower half of my body until Cato kissed away the tears that fell down my cheeks. A slow rhythm was created between us as we kissed each other constantly. His lips never left my skin and my nails dug into his skin, making him shiver.

It was then that I knew that Cato and I were bound to each other forever. We would always love each other. I knew that I loved him more than anything in the world. And that he loved me just as much. I knew that he is my soul mate and that I was his. We were meant for each other and nothing could break us apart. I know that I can never leave him. Because I love him and nothing will change that.

After we shared that intense moment, we fell asleep in each others arms. He fell asleep before I did, whispering sweet nothings into my ear. I laid awake for a few more minutes thinking about how much I loved him. About the arm that was wrapped around my waist. About the arm that my head rested on as a pillow. And about the breath that brushed at the back of my neck that smelled like peppermint. I smiled to myself thinking, how could I be so lucky? But it was then that I realized, having this luck comes with a price. I just didn't know what it was yet.

The next day when I woke up I was wrapped in a cocoon of warmth, provided by the man who's arms were wrapped around my naked form. I open my eyes to see the sun streaming through the window. I sigh in content only to feel the arm around me tighten.

"Good morning babe." he said, his voice rough from sleep.

"Morning. How long have you been awake?" I asked him.

"I don't know, a while. You?" he asked as I turned over to face him.

"Just woke up." I said to him. He leans in and kisses me. "Last night was amazing." I said once we broke away.

"I didn't hurt you too much did I?" he asked me, his voice full of concern.

"Not too much but I have a feeling that I'll get used to it." I said to him with a sly smile, earning a searing kiss from him. Right as Cato was about to break away, the door slamming open actually made him. Haymitch stood at the door looking at us.

"Get up you two, you're needed." he ordered while Cato pulled the blanket up over us to cover up.

"By who?" he asked.

"Snow." he said reluctantly. He walked out, closing the door behind him, and Cato looked at me before climbing out of bed. He pulled on some boxers while I got out and pulled on a green bra and underwear. I tossed him a gray shirt while he pulled out some dark brown pants for me. Lastly I grabbed a green shirt while Cato pulled on black pants. We grabbed our boots, put them on, and fixed our bed heads before walking out of our rooms down to the living room, where President Snow stood. I could smell his blood scented rose from the stairs.

"Cato" he said giving him a nod. "Katniss" giving me a nod as well. He gestured to the couch as he sat down in the chair. Cato clasped my hand as we sat down together. "that was a lovely wedding."

"Thank you." I said, twirling to diamond studded band around my finger.

"But, I still don't believe it." he said sternly.

"What?" Cato and I said together.

"What more do you want?" I asked him. "Cato and I got married because we love each other, how can you not believe it?" I shouted at Snow, standing up. Cato stood up, put both hands on my shoulders and rubbed them as he lowered me back down to the couch, but this time on his lap and wrapping his arms around me securely.

"For all I know you could have gotten married just because I didn't believe it. Now there is one thing that will convince me." he said leaning back in the chair.

"Which would be?" Cato asked, but he didn't have to ask for me to know the answer.

"Children." he said simply. Cato's mouth dropped open like he wasn't expecting it.

"What?"

"Children that is the only way I will be convinced." he said before standing up abruptly and walking out the door. I sat there looking at the floor while Cato paced the room.

"I can't believe him. How could he expect us to have kids? Now?" he thought out loud.

"It makes sense." my voice sounded through the room, causing him to stop and look at me confused.

"What are you talking about?"

"think about it. The Quarter Quell is coming up in a few months. What better drama than having a pregnant mentor to the new Tributes?" he sighed and stepped towards me.

"It does make sense now. If we can get pregnant and have a family through the games and the Quell, then it'll have to prove that we are in love." he pressed his forehead to mine after I nodded a response.

"So boy or girl?" I piped up out of nowhere.

"Huh?"

"Do you want a boy or a girl?" I asked him with a small smirk on my face.

"Hmm." he mumbled before picking me up bridal style and carrying me up to our room. He kicked open the door that stood ajar and walked over to the bed and lightly set me down. I crawled up and leaned against the head board as he followed me. I sat there and cuddled into his chest as I waited him to answer. "I think I would want both. A boy and a girl."

"Why both?"

"What? I can't want a little me and a little you running around here?" he teased.

"Close to the same age?"

"Yeah, got to have the big brother looking out for his little sister in school, then he can be around to scare off any young men that I can't be around to scare." he said sternly and much like a father. I smiled and nudged him.

"He'll have to get past me first. So you want a boy first?" I asked and he nodded. "What would we name him?"

"Demitri or Pallas."

"Why those two names?" I asked him.

"Because Demitri sounds different than the names you usually hear in the Capitol, and Pallas, from what I remember in school, was the name of the Titan of War craft. It's powerful."

"I like them, but I don't know, there's something that doesn't seem right. How about Elijah?"

"Elijah," he tried out. "I like it, Eli for short."

"Okay now what if we have a girl?" I asked him.

"I don't know. I haven't really thought about girls names yet." he answered.

"So you've been thinking about having kids?" I asked him.

"Well yeah, I've always thought about having a family with you. I just wasn't sure if you were ready for all of it yet. I mean I know we just got married yesterday but I wasn't sure if you were ready for the idea of it."

"I wasn't ready for it at first. But I don't think that matters anymore. We have to."

"Of course it matters. Katniss I won't be happy unless you're happy." he said sweetly. I smiled and leaned in to kiss him.

"You know there is a name for a girl that has been circling me mind for a while, Severa. I don't know what it is but I like the name." I said to him.

"Severa," he tried the name out. "i like it too.".

"So when should we start?" I asked sneakily. He grinned and leaned over me as I let him take control of what was about to happen, but I wasn't going to tell him to stop any time soon.


	10. Goodnight Darling

~Katniss~

I don't know what to think at this very moment it's the day of the Quarter Quell and I was on edge. It's the first time that I have to be a mentor. To say I was scared was a lie, I was terrified. And I didn't have Cato here with me, no he was back in his own District getting ready for the Reapings. All of the people stood in front of the stage waiting to hear how this year's games are going to be run, while I sat with Haymitch and the mayor on the stage. Effie walked up from back stage with a box.

"welcome welcome to the Quarter Quell, it is time for the reading of the card." she announced before motioning to the giant screen where President Snow stood projected. He pulled out the card and read it aloud to the camera.

"along with the two original tributes, one extra tribute wil be pulled from a bowl mixed with both boy and girl names." he read to the country, I stared at it in shock. Three tributes in the games? What am I going to do? My first year as a mentor with Haymitch and I have to mentor three people?

Effie then pulled the name of the first female tribute, a girl by the name of Vanessa, a girl I went to school with that everybody called Nessa. Her hair was short and blonde hair that went nicely with her brown eyes. When the boy tribute was called, one named Lage a tall naturally tanned skinned boy with gray eyes like most people in the seam, and when Effie pulled the name of the third tribute, it was another girl. This girl looked a lot like Lage, tall, tan, and gray eyes with brown hair to her shoulders and her name was Ember. When everything was said and done, I walked back into the Justice building with Haymitch, Effie, and the three tributes. They each went into their own rooms to talk with their families while I waited in the lounge.

"Call for Katniss Everdeen." a Peacekeeper said, I nodded and walked over tot he door he was standing in, I took the phone from him and closed the door.

"hello?" I said, wondering who would be calling me here.

"hey babe, how are you holding up?" asked the one man I could trust in this world, even more than Gale. Cato.

"not great, this three tribute thing is going to be tough." I said, holding the phone in one hand and wrapping my arm around me nervously.

"i know Kat, and we won't let this come between us right?" he asked.

"of course not." I said, then there was a knock on the door before Effie walked in telling me it's time to go. "okay, I have to go. See you at the Capitol."

"bye, can't wait to see you."

"you too. Bye." I said and hung up the phone before following Effie out of the Justice Building to the train. We loaded onto the train and went to our own compartments to get some sleep before we arrive tomorrow. It was hard to sleep that night, because I didn't have Cato here with me like I always do. I woke up several time that night from nightmares that wouldn't go away. By the time I woke up from the third nightmare I just stayed awake, drinking hot chocolate from the Capitol and watching the Reapings. Eventually Lage, Vanessa, and Ember woke up and came out for breakfast, Effie following a few minutes behind them. They sat at the table and ate their breakfast in silence, but Lage was the first to speak up.

"so what do we do first?" he asked seriously.

"let me tell you all of what is going to happen at the Capitol. First will be the opening ceremony where the sponsors can get a good look at what there is to offer. You'll meet your stylists and get all prettied up with them before hand. Then over the next three days you having training with the rest of the tributes. And I want all of you to try every station there is. If you find a weapon that you are particularly good with, stop with it and save it for the individual training for the game makers, don't let the other tributes see your strengths. Stick together and stick to the survival skills, you'll need those the most." I stopped to take a breath and allow them to take it all in. They seemed like they got it all.

"so what are your strengths?" I asked them.

"well I guess I'm pretty strong." Lage said unsure. "I played sports in school so I guess I am."

"I've always been told that I'm fast and sneaky." Vanessa said.

"i have good aim and I'm fast." Ember said. I nodded at them and that' when Haymitch decided to walk in.

"finally." I said to him. He sighed sitting down next to me.

"so what do we know so far?" he asked and we gave him a recap of what we just talked about. "good good. So what other questions do you have right now?"

"who do we make allies with?" Ember asked. She seemed the most determined to win the games out of this small group.

"lets wait until we see the other tributes to know that." I answered.

"isn't it a conflict of interest that Katniss is married to the District 2 mentor?" Lage asked boldly.

"Yeah what if she tells him our secrets."

"i wouldn't do that." I stated clearly and angrily but Ember didn't look convinced. "fine, if you don't believe me then I won't help you." I said before standing up and walking to my room. It wasn't until we arrived at the Capitol that I came out of my room. I was wearing a Capitol outfit, a black dress with all different colors of glitter on it. I put on some black heels that I finally learned to walk in and strode out of my room. Everybody looked at me in shock.

"what?" I asked them.

"nothing you look great." Effie said, I looked down at my thin strapped, knee length, dress and sighed as Haymitch and I followed her out of the train, the tributes following us. People cheered and took pictures of us as we walked into the building. Finally we made it in and were taken to the prep teams. They whisked the tributes away as I stood with Haymitch and Effie. Once the prep teams were done with them and the tributes waited for their designers, my old team came to make me presentable as well. I was actually excited to see them, it had been so long.

"Katniss! It's been too long!" says Octavia. "you are absolutely glowing." she exclaimed excitedly. They took me away and prettied me up and them once they were done I was met with Cinna again. I stood up smiling and gave him a hug.

"so nice to see you." he whispered in my ear.

"You too." I replied.

"and you're glowing." he commented once he pulled away and looked me up and down in my robe. He raised an eyebrow at me.

"can you tell?" I asked him nervously, I didn't want anybody knowing yet.

"no, it's just an intuition." he said and I smiled in relief. He turned and picked up a garment bag off of a near by table and handed it to me. "go ahead and look." he said and I unzipped it. I saw a strapless blue dress, the type of blue that you would see at the base of a fire. And as the fabric flows down to the floor the blue fades to black. And of course there was padding in the dress.

"thank you Cinna, it's beautiful." I said once I had put the dress on completely. When we were done we stepped out and I saw the tributes in similar outfits that Peeta and I wore last year. But this time, it was just a black tank top for the girls and a black t-shirt for Lage, and black pants and combat boots on all of them. His hair was spiked up while the girls had their hair in a pony tail.

"now the flames this year will be a little different, instead of coming off of you, they will be on you like a movie on a screen. With just a push of a button I an make them appear so don't be scared when they do." he said and they nodded. Haymitch pulled me away to talk to some of the other mentors and the first one I meet is the famous Finnick Odair.

"well well well so this is the famous Girl on Fire?" he says with a seducing smirk that doesn't phase me.

"and you're Finnick. Nice to meet you." I said as he takes my hands and kisses it.

"the pleasure is all mine. I saw your wedding on television and I'm sad that I wasn't there." he commented with fake sadness.

"we wanted to keep it small." I retorted getting rather annoyed, where was Cato?

"well you looked beautiful, and tonight you look ravishing." he said, his smirk growing into a smile.

"good thing she's my wife then." a voice said behind me. I turned and Cato in a black suit with a blue tie to match my dress. I threw my arms around his neck and his went around my waist, hugging me close to him. When I pulled away his eyes bore into mine before he lowers his head and kisses me with such passion that we had missed the past few days. I heard the faint footsteps of Finnick and Haymitch walking away to give us some privacy. Finally we pulled away when we needed air and stared into each other's eyes.

"i missed you so much." I said to him, never taking my eyes off of him.

"i missed you too Kat." he said. Soon it was time for the tributes to load into their chariots so Cato and I made our way to our seats. He wouldn't leave me to go sit with his District so he came with me, not wanting to leave me for another second. I watched as the tributes rode out past everybody. Mine we waving at everybody in their flames and everybody cheered for them, Cato smiled and whispered in my ear.

"Cinna has done it again." he smiled at me and I laughed and nodded. When the parade was over I walked out and stood with my tributes and congratulated them on a job well done. Cato went to his and did the same. When we were about to get in the elevator I caught his gaze ad he winked at me. I turned to the rest of my group.

"hey will you guys be okay without me for a while?" I asked Effie and she nodded smiling. I walked over to Cato who met me half way. He pulled me into his arms and walked us over to to another elevator still holding me in his arms as the doors closed. Once they were he pinned me to the wall and kissed me fiercely, and I kissed back in equal favor. My arms snaked their way around his broad shoulders, pulling him to me as his hands moved their way to my butt and lifted me up, to get a better reach of my mouth. Once the doors open to our floor, he set me down and pulled me to our own apartment, it was no different than the rest of the apartments the tributes get. We walked into our bedroom ad started getting undressed.

"one day down, many more to go." I said trying to unzip my dress, when I couldn't Cato stepped in to help.

"I'll be here for you every step of the way." he said, finishing the zipper and kissing the back of my neck.

"Effie told me that they want to interview the both of us." I informed him.

"why?" he asked confused.

"because we're the first set of tributes to make it out of one game alive and now we are mentors going against each other to make sure one of our tributes comes out alive." I explained. I said stepping out of my dress and pulling on some pajama ants and shirt. I turn to see Cato trying to undo his tie and I helped while he took off his jacket.

"well we shouldn't have to worry about that. We're in this together right?" he said once he got his tie off.

"of course. Now let's get to bed, we have a long day tomorrow, which includes the interview." I said and he sighed. I crawled into bed and watched him continue changing into his pajamas, which were just pants.

"see something you like?" he asked as he took off his shirt and started undoing his pants.

"more like something I love." I snapped back with a grin. He laughed and shed his black dress pants, pulled on his pajamas and crawled up towards me on the bed. He pressed a small slow kiss to my lips before catching me by surprise, wrapping his arms around me, pressing me to him.

"Goodnight darling." his breath hot against the back of my neck, making me shiver. And I fell asleep just like that, pressed tightly to him, in his arms.

**A/N: I am sooo sorry everyone for not updating my stories in such a long time. I'm sure you've seen this excuse/reason many times but with school and athletics starting its becoming hard to find time to write my stories. Hope u enjoyed the chapter and check out the update for my other story Mysteries Made.**


	11. Planting The Seed

~Katniss~

I woke up the next morning with a sickly feeling in the pit of my stomach. The sun had not yet risen but it didn't matter, I bolted up from the bed and sprinted to the bathroom, emptying the contents of my stomach into the toilet. I had closed the door behind me, not wanting Cato to see me like this. But it didn't matter because he came anyway.

"Katniss? Are you okay?" he asked through the door.

"Go away." I managed to say.

"No, I'm coming in." he said before kicking in the door and rushing to me. He held my hair back as I continued to throw up into the toilet. Once I was done I stood up and brushed my teeth. "Did you eat something bad?"

"Not that I know of, probably just the flu. Hopefully it'll be gone by tonight." I said allowing him to pull me to a stand. We got dressed in regular clothing knowing Cinna will have something for us to change into. We each went our separate ways to our floors and I walked in finding them all eating breakfast.

"Katniss, wonderful for you to join us." Effie said excitedly.

"Thanks, um can I talk to you for a second?" I asked her and she nodded, following me into another room. She shut the door as I sat on the bed, looking at my hands.

"What's wrong?"

"Do you know where I can get a pregnancy test without people knowing?" I asked bluntly. Her face grew from worry to excitement in a second.

"Oh Katniss! Do you think you are?"

"I think so, I got sick this morning before I came here."

"I'll send an Avox to get one right away. When are you going to tell people?" she asked me.

"I was thinking in the interview, I would like to tell Cato in private but I know Snow wants it to be a big surprise. I've suspected that I was for a while but I need confirmation." I explained to her.

"Well I'm very happy for you. Now come on you have tributes to mentor." she said cheerfully as she ushered me out to the dining room again.

Things went smoothly through breakfast, Haymitch and I explained to them that they needed to stay together and not to show their strength and to work hard. After they had gone to the training center I sat in the living room waiting for Cinna. Finally he came holding a garment bag and silver heels in his hands.

"Hello Katniss. How are we this morning?" he said with a big smile on his face.

"Did Effie tell you?" I said with a knowing smile.

"Yes-" he started but was interrupted.

"Speaking of which, here it is Katniss." she said handing me a test. I walked into the bathroom and took the test, waiting a few minutes before looking at it. I saw a tiny pink plus and picked it up smiling. I walked out of the bathroom and showed it to them. They cheered in happiness and gave me hugs gently.

"I'm so happy for you but now you have to go get dressed." he said handing me my dress and shoes. I walked into a bedroom that was originally set for me and changed into the short, empire waisted, flowing, silver dress that matched the heels. There was shining beading across the bodice that looked beautiful. I walked out and Cinna and Effie sighed.

"Beautiful." they said together.

"Where's Haymitch?" I asked.

"He must be out talking to some other mentors or sponsors." Effie suggested.

"well come on you have to go to your interview." Cinna exclaimed shoving me out. I stepped out of the room and walked to the elevator. When I arrived at the stage I saw Cato standing on the side with his back to me. As soon as he heard my heels clicking softly behind him he turned to me and sighed.

"Where have you been? He just started, you had me worried. Did you get sick again?" he said in a rush, holding one side of my face with his giant hand.

"I'm fine" I said giving him a reassuring smile. He sighed and pulled me to him.

"Now give it up for the couple themselves, the Couple on Fire, Katniss and Cato!" Caeser shouted on stage. I giggled and pulled away slightly.

"The Couple on Fire?" I said skeptically at Cato and he shrugged before pulling me out on stage. We walked out on stage holding hands and waving to the crowd. Cato sat down in the single seat and pulled me to his lap, and I happily sat down smiling.

"So Katniss, let me see that ring on your finger?" Caeser said and I held my hand out for him to see. He smiled big. "Just magnificent." he commented.

"Thank you, I love it." I said happily, earning a kiss on the cheek from Cato.

"So how has the married life been treating you two?"

"It's been great so far. We've been inseparable since we got out of the games so it feels like as if we've been married since then. But now that it's official, its an amazing feeling." Cato explains. I was smiling brightly at him. I was silently debating when I was going to announce the news about me but I guess I didn't have to bring the subject up, because Caeser already decided that for me.

"So when can we expect little feet running around you two?" he asked and Cato looked to me for an answer to that question.

"Well..." I started biting my lip, smiling slightly. Cato's eyes grew wide as did Caeser's.

"Wait, are you..." Caeser started but I wasn't looking at him, I was staring into Cato's hopeful eyes. I nodded to him and he smiled the biggest smile I have ever seen on his face. He stood up bringing me in his arms spinning me around.

"YES!" he shouted happily. After he settled down and sat back down he bombarded me with questions.

"So that's why you were sick this morning?" again I nodded. "How long have you known?"

"I've been guessing for a week or so but I found out officially this morning."

"Why didn't you-" he started but Caeser interrupted.

"Whoa whoa Cato, asking questions is my job." he joked.

"Sorry Caeser." he apologized with a slight smile.

"Anyway, I think what Cato was going to ask was why didn't you tell him yet? What made you wait?"

"Well I didn't want to tell him or anybody that I might be pregnant then it turns out that I'm not. I didn't want to get anybody's hopes up. I wanted to be sure."

"Have you guys talked about having a family?" yes, I thought, despite Snow's orders.

"We have talked about it and were hoping for it, but I didn't think it'd be this soon. And I'm happy I am but wow I'm going to be a dad." Cato said in amazement.

"If you've talked about it, have you talked about names?"

"We have talked about names and for a girl we like Severa and for a boy we are decided on Chase or Kai. We haven't really decided." I answered.

"Nice strong names for the children of two strong victors. Who knows, maybe you'll have twins and get to use both names." he supplied.

"Wouldn't that be nice." Cato said wrapping his arms around my waist gently, rubbing his hand over my stomach.

"So about your tributes. How are you two holding up? Both of you are mentors for different tributes from different districts, surely that would put a damper on you relationship since you're trying to get yours out alive. You're competing against each other, doesn't that bother you?"

"You would think but we both agreed to not let it come between us." I said looking back and forth from Cato to Caeser.

I have a hunch but I could be wrong. Caeser is trying to plant a seed. Trying anything to get a rise out of us and challenge us. He wants us to argue, he wants there to be drama. Well too bad for him, there isn't going to be. Cato and I agreed to it, and he always keeps his promises, right? A bell rang sounding the end of the interview.

"Oh well it looks like we are out of time. Good luck to the both of you. Cato and Katniss everybody." he said before we walked off the stage. As we walked back to the elevator Cato was silent and on edge, something was wrong.

"Okay what's wrong?" I asked once we stepped in and the doors closed.

"What are you talking about?" he asked trying to play dumb.

"Ever since we left you've been different. What's wrong?" I asked again.

"He's right you know."

"What?"

"He's right, we are competing against each other, how are we not going to let it come between us? We know it will, once the tributes get into the arena we are against each other. Doesn't that bother you? We'll be enemies once again." he said to me, his voice getting louder and louder as he continued. I was speechless, I didn't know what to say. I just stared at him, mouth slightly ajar. His deep breathing began to slow down as his expression softened. How could he say that? We knew this as soon as the Reapings started, and as much as I hoped this wouldn't happen, I knew it would. And as soon as the doors opened at our floor, I stepped off immediately, I stepped into the open elevator next to the one I just exited and closed the doors. I wasn't going to spend the night with him after what he had just said to me. I heard him call my name but it was too late, the doors had closed and he couldn't get them opened.

As I rode up to the floor number twelve I fought the tears that wanted to spill over. I'm not going to cry, I thought to myself as the numbers above the door lit up, _9 10 11 12 ding!_ The doors opened and I stepped out and walked to the pent house. When I walked in, Effie and Haymitch were sitting on the couch talking about the tributes. They noticed me once I walked into the room and shut the door.

"Oh Katniss, we saw the interview, you did a lovely job." she said and looked around me. "Where's Cato?"

"Probably up in our room sulking." I said emotionless as I sat down next to them on the couch.

"What happened now?" Haymitch groaned. "What? Pregnancy hormones?" he tried to joke but I glared at him which shut him up.

"No he just succumbed to what Caeser said. Caeser planted a seed in our relationship and Cato accepted it."

"Look Cato loves you and there is no way that you two will let these games come between you." Effie said trying to be comforting.

"Too late." I said before going to my bedroom. I shed my dress and changed into my pajamas that were set out for me in the closet. I set my dress on the chair near the window and I laid down on my bed. I stared at the ceiling as tears fell from my cheeks. Tomorrow I would have to find some way to keep my mind off of Cato, maybe I can work with Haymitch and talk to some sponsors. But whatever I do, it'll have to keep me away from Cato, if he really feels this way about the games and our relationship.

~Cato~

I can't believe I said that to her. I can't believe I let what Caeser said come between us. If I hadn't, Katniss would be here with me, and we would be talking about the baby, whether we wanted it to be a boy or a girl, we would be happy. But I opened my big mouth and upset her, something I didn't want to do. So here I sit, pulling at my hair with my elbows resting on my knees, sitting on our bed, where she should be with me.

I have to make it up to her somehow. I have to do something that will make her happy again. I know that the stress of the games is heavy upon her shoulders, and after what I did, I made it worse. And stress isn't good for the baby.

**AN: **

**Dear readers,**

**please know that anybody who gives me a review, on either story, that is harsh, rude, or maybe even threatening to try to get me to update sooner will not work. I have received a few reviews and private messages telling to to update using insults and threats. If this continues I will not only stop updating my stories but I will also pull them from fanfiction. I do not wish to do so but if it continues then I reluctantly will. Please keep this in mind when you choose to review for message me about my stories because I will not stand for this and I am not afraid to report these messages or reviews because I have already done so with a few that I thought were out of line. **

**Sincerely,**

** .Mockingjay**


	12. Morning Sickness

~Katniss~

I woke up early the next morning with morning sickness. Trying to hold the vomit in my mouth I sprinted to the bathroom and emptied my stomach into the toilet. Not too long after I started, I felt someone pull my hair back and hold it. The next chance I got I looked to see Vanessa looking at me sympathetically.

"Thanks." I said to her.

"No problem, my mom got pregnant back when I was ten so I helped her when dad was at work." she continued as I continued to vomit. When I had finished I brushed my teeth and allowed her to help me into my bedroom. She picked out a gold sequin dress with gold heels to match for me to wear. When she finally closed the door on her way out I started changing into my dress. It came to just above the knee which I was comfortable with. When I came out of my room my hair was down around my shoulders flowing behind me as I went to sit at the table. Everybody looked up at me.

"You okay sweetheart?" Haymitch said to me.

"Just a little morning sickness, that's all." I said piling food onto my plate. They gave me a weird look. "What? I have cravings." I retorted and they went back to eating.

"So what do you want us to do today in training. I really want to get my hands on a weapon." Ember said.

" Well Haymitch, what do you think?" I asked him.

"Lage, I want you to work on the hand to hand combat station. You look like you have muscle. And as for you girls, I want you to work on the knives or spears station. If you find that you're really good at it then move on to something else." he explained and I nodded along with him. When we had finished breakfast the tributes went down to the training center while Haymitch, Effie and I went to talk to sponsors.

"Cato stopped by this morning while you were sick." Effie stated bluntly as we stepped into the elevator. I stared at the ground but I could feel eyes on me.

"What did he want?" I asked with no emotion in my voice.

"He wanted to talk to you, he sounded desperate." Haymitch said.

"He probably is after what happened last night." I said crossing my arms. Before there could be any further discussion on the subject the doors opened and I put a small smile on my face for the sponsors. The first people we met was a man and a woman who had just gotten married.

"Katniss Everdeen, The Girl on Fire, its and honor to meet you." the woman said. "I'm Sandra and this is my husband Garret." she said gesturing to the man standing next to her. They were dressed in the colors of the Capitol being dressed up bright colors that made my eyes hurt. After discussing a sponsorship with the two of them Haymitch and Effie congratulated me on talking to a sponsor for the first time. Haymitch was just in the middle of a sentence when he stopped abruptly.

"What?" I asked him.

"You're husband is staring at you instead of talking with a sponsor for his tributes." he explained.

"Look I really don't want to talk to him right now so can we find more sponsors?" I asked them both.

"He's coming over." he said.

"Oh look! Interested sponsors!" Effie commented and pulled us to them.

"Thank you Effie." I said and she nodded. We spent most of the day talking to the sponsors and so far we have quite a few lined up. I was sitting up in my room in a pair of nice pants and shirt that I could be comfortable in. I was just standing up to leave the room when Effie stepped in.

"Oh Katniss, Haymitch would like to talk to you." she said.

"Okay." I said, standing up and nodding.

"On the roof." she said further.

"Why on the roof?"

"He wanted to talk to you without certain people hearing." she said as she shoved me out of the door and too the elevator. I rode it up spending the entire time wondering what he wanted to talk to me about that was so important. When I opened the door to the roof, I didn't see Haymitch anywhere. No I saw the simple roof top of this building, along with a table of food, two candles lit and food on plates. There was such a variety of food that I couldn't begin to tell you what all there was. I was too busy staring at the scenery around me that I didn't here footsteps come up behind me. When the persons hands started rubbed up and down my arms I didn't need to look to know that it was Cato, he's done this many times when I've been stressed out about something.

"I"m glad you came." he commented into my ear.

"Well I was told Haymitch wanted to talk to me but I guess that was a lie." I said bitterly.

"Kat, please don't be mad at me. I have no idea why I said all of the things that I did. But I made you a promise that these games wouldn't come between us, and I'm not going to let it happen. I love you and our baby too much to let anything come between us." he said, taking deep breaths once he was done. I stared up at him to see nothing but love in his eyes.

"You really mean that?" I asked turning to face him. When I saw his face it was full of sadness, and determination. He stared deep into my eyes and my soul, trying to figure out what I was thinking. He reached up and pushed away a tear that I didn't know had fallen and kissed my head.

"Yes I do, I don't want to lose you and I feel like if we continue the way we are, then I will. I love you Katniss." he says, staring into my eyes. I was at a loss for words. I just kept looking at him. "Say something." he demanded lightly. But I didn't. I reached up and connected my lips with his, giving him a kiss that told him that I felt the same way, that I loved him and our baby so much that I didn't want the games to come between us. He was the first to pull away from it and he looked at me with a smile.

"So does that mean you forgive me?" I chuckled and nodded. "Well then we shouldn't let the food go to waste." he said gesturing to the table. He lead me over to it and helped me sit down. "I didn't know what you might want since we have the baby to think about." he explained as I looked in awe at all of the food.

"It's perfect, and he or she has been okay with everything I've eaten here so far." I said with a smile as he started serving the food.

"We'll have to have an appointment with a doctor to see how it's doing soon."

"How do you know so much about child care?" I asked him.

"I'm from District 2 remember, they teach us everything there." He says and I nod. Half way through dinner he notices that I am getting tired and starting to fall asleep so he gets out of his chair, walks over to me, and carries me bridal style to the elevator to go down to our room. As he stood in the elevator he still held me.

"You can put me down now you know." I said looking up at him only to see his classic smirk come across his lips.

"Maybe I don't want to." the confident remark comes from his mouth causing me to snuggle into him. When we finally get back to our room we go straight to the bedroom and lay down on the bed still in our clothes. He lays on his back and pulls me to him, my head resting on his chest so that I can hear his steady heartbeat. One hand of his rubs my back while the other rests on the my stomach.

"I can't believe we're having a baby." I said absentmindedly.

"I can't wait to see him." he says lightly.

"or her." I counter back smiling.

"Oh it's definitely going to be a boy." he says chuckling.

"And if it's a girl?" I ask. He sits up, bringing me with him, looking me in my eyes.

"Then we are definitely having another. But I want a boy first." he says with a small smile.

"Why?"

"Who is going to chase the guys away from our daughter when we aren't around?" he replies making me smile.

"You have this all planned out don't you?" I asked as we lay back down.

"Yep, we'll have a boy first, then a girl. And after that, well we'll cross that bridge when we come to it." he explains and I nod.

"Sounds perfect. We'll have to train these kids though. No son or daughter of mine is not going to know how to hunt." I says seriously.

"Or fight." he continues. "Talking about training them makes me think of them in the games." my face makes a frown and I snuggle closer to him.

"I don't want to think about that." I state clearly.

"Then let's get some sleep, you need it love." he says before pulling the covers over the both of us and tugging me closer to his. With my back pressed against his chest, arms around me, and one hand rubbing small circles on my belly, I felt relaxed. The most relaxed I've felt since we came to the Capitol.

The next morning was like a typical morning, me running to the bathroom and emptying my stomach while Cato holds my hair. At first I told him not to come in, I didn't want him seeing me like this. But there was no stopping him when he kicked open the door, saying that some Avoxs will fix it. My hair was still in it's loose curls from last night so instead of letting them splay across my shoulders and back, he held it all back so nothing would get in it.

"We should talk to Effie about you seeing a doctor, to see how far along you are." he said and I nodded between vomits.

When I was finally done he handed me my toothbrush before kissing my head and leaving the bathroom. When I was done I found him in our bedroom getting dressed. He already had his pants on and was standing shirtless so I couldn't help but stare. He caught me and gave me a soft kiss on my lips, pulling away slowly, making it linger, teasing me. But I was having none of that, I pulled him back in for another one but much deeper and more passionate. Chuckling he pulled away and handed me a shirt and pair of pants. They weren't the nicest things in the closet, the pants were black, like his, and the shirt was a deep red v-neck. I looked up at him wondering why he picked these out of all of the clothing in the closet. He pulled me to him, giving me a kiss making his way to my ear and whispering something that sent chills down my spine, in a good way.

"for me to rip to shreds later." his breath hot on my ear. He kisses it before turning to find a shirt to wear. I quickly stepped in front of him and picked a dark blue shirt that contrasts his bright blue eyes, making them look much more blue. I handed it to him and he gives me the same questioning look I gave him. I slowly walk to him, get on my toes, and whisper softly and huskily in his ear.

"do you really think you're the only one that will rip some clothes to shreds tonight?" I say before stepping away quickly enough and running to the bathing room before he can grab me. I change into the clothes he gave me and walk back out. I see him waiting for me by the door. He knew I wasn't feeling up to eat after just having morning sickness. We walked hand in hand to the elevator and that is where he gets his revenge. As soon as the doors close he pulls me in for a fire burning kiss, hungrily kissing down my jaw and neck making my breath quicken. I start to kiss his neck earning a moan from him.

"you make me moan anymore right now I swear I'll leave a love bite for _everyone_ to see." he threatens, so I lightly bite down on his neck making him moan once more. "okay you asked for it." but before he could go very far the elevator dinged signaling that we were at our destination and he groaned. I laughed at him as we walked into the District 12 apartment.

"What's he doing here?" asked Ember.

"Chill out Ember." snarked Lage.

"But he's from two! So why is he here?"

"Look like it or not he's my husband. He's not here to get any secret or anything like that. We're just here for a few minutes before he has to go see his tributes. So relax." I say strictly to her. She rolls her eyes before turning back to her breakfast. I lead Cato to my room and he sits on the bed while I go to the closet.

"Well she's something else."

"She's the most stubborn out of all of them." I retort. I grabbed a pair of black dress pants and a top covered in sequins the are designed to looks like flames. I slide them on and grab a pair or two inch red heels to match the shirt. I turn back to Cato to see his jaw on the floor and almost drooling. "What?" I asked.

"Those are definitely getting torn to shreds tonight." he said standing up and walking to me, placing his hands on my hips. I giggled at him and pushed him away a little bit.

"You need to leave before Ember throws a fit. And we have sponsors to talk to today." I said lightly and shoved him towards the door.

"Okay fine then. And as payback you won't be getting any kisses from me til tonight." he threatened.

"I'm pretty sure that you'll be the first to cave babe." he gave me a playful glare before walking out the door, saying hi to Haymitch and Effie as he left. I walked out in another dress that was red, knee length, sweetheart neckline, two finger width straps, and my red heels. I left my hair down in their curls and I stepped out to the dinning area. I sat down at the table with Haymitch, Ember, Lage, Vanessa, and Effie.

"So what have you discovered are you're strengths?" I asked them.

"Well I'm pretty good with a sword and weights. And the knot tying apparently." Lage said.

"Good, how about you Vanessa?" I asked her gently.

"Well I can throw a knives decently, I'm good on the obstacle coarse, and I can shoot a bow and arrow too." she said proudly. I smiled at her.

"Okay, now Ember time to brag." Haymitch said lazily.

"Manners Haymitch." Effie reminded.

"It's just us Effie, loosen your corset for once." he said and she glared at him.

"Anyway, I can throw knives and spears, I can work with a sword, makes fires, and tie knots. By the way I hated staying away from the weapons through this." she commented pointing a her fork at me.

"Ember, I know you hate taking orders from someone your age but," I said before standing up with my hands on the table. "Get over it." I said irritatedly. She gulped and nodded before I sat back down. I sighed as I sat back in my seat, taking a roll and nibbling on it.

"Oh by the way Katniss, I set up and appointment with a doctor to check on the baby." Effie said and I nodded.

"Cato can come too right?" I asked timidly.

"Yeah cause miss Girl On Fire can take the Hunger Games but she can't take a little doctors appointment." Ember snapped and I sent her a death glare.

"If looks could kill." Lage said.

"Erase the frown sweetheart, you don't need it when we talk to sponsors." Haymitch said and I nodded.

"Wow even a mentor has to be mentored." Ember retorts.

"It's her first year." Effie defends.

"Exactly, and if you win, you get to talk my place as I raise my family. But with the way you're acting, who's to say any of the sponsor money will be spent on _you_." I threaten and her face morphs into a look of defeat before she turns back to her food.

"Well you three should get down to the training rooms. This is the last chance you'll have to train and for other tributes to form any alliances. Get going." my fellow mentor ordered. As they left the apartment I sighed and rested a hand on my stomach. This day needed to go by fast, so Cato and I could get to that appointment.


	13. They

~Katniss~

The day went by slowly as Haymitch and I talked to different sponsors. A few times I saw Cato and his fellow mentors and he just winked at me, giving me a small smirk. But when he caught sight of what I was wearing, his jaw dropped slightly before he regained his composer. He was dressed in black pants and a leather jacket with a blue v-neck shirt underneath. He decided to dress casual for this meeting. But I had to admit, he looked good. Finally, after checking the time every ten minutes Haymitch finally let me go. I nodded a thank you to him before walking over to Cato.

"Honey, can I talk to you?" I said to him sweetly for the sponsors. He nodded, looking at me with furrowed brows and walked with me out of ear shot from the sponsors. He knows I'm not that sweet so he knows something is up.

"What's wrong?"

"Effie made an appointment for me with a doctor. It's in a few minutes."

"I'm coming with you." he said protectively making me laugh.

"That's why I came to get you dummy." I teased. He smirked before walking back to the sponsors and Enorbia with me in tow.

"I apologize but it seems that I am needed somewhere else." he said looking back and forth from them to me. I blushed as I wrapped my arm around his. He kiss my head before turning back to them."Can you handle things from here?" he said to his old mentor.

"Yes now go be hormonal." she said shoving them away.

"It's more of an appointment because of us being hormonal." Cato thought out loud.

"Checking on the baby?" A sponsor asked.

"Yes sir now Cato we have to go before we're late." I said tugging him away. He followed me to the elevator and wrapped me in his arms as the doors closed.

"You know that kiss doesn't count." he whispered in my ear.

"I was wondering about that." we finally made it to our apartment and I changed into more casual pants and top. But I ended up keeping the heels because we have to keep up appearance. When I walked out of our room Cato stood near the door with a jacket much like his but fitted for me. I slipped it on with his help and we walked back to the elevator and rode down to the first floor where we would meet the car to take us to the doctor. When we made it to the doctor's office we sat nervously in the waiting room. All of the paperwork was filled out by Effie, thank goodness, so all we had to do is wait. Which didn't last too long.

"Katniss Knight?" a Capitol nurse asked. We stood up and followed her to a room.

"Knight?" Cato whispered to me.

"Effie filled out the papers not me. But I don't mind it. Do you?" I asked looking at him. He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and pulled me to his side.

"Not at all." he said as we entered our room. Everything was white, white floors, walls, chairs, everything. The nurse stood by the door as Cato and I walked in. I sat on the bed as Cato sat on the chair next to me, holding me hand.

"Doctor Kimba will be right with you." the nurse said before walking out of the room.

"Kimba?" Cato sad in disbelief.

"Capitol people have weird names." I commented just before the doctor herself walked through the door.

"Hello Mr. and Mrs. Knight. Pleasure to finally meet the Couple on Fire."

"nice to meet you too." Cato said as we shook hands with Doctor Kimba.

"so ready to see the baby?" she asked and I nodded. "okay just lay back on the bed and lift up your shirt. Warning, this gel is going to be a little cold." she said and she put it on my stomach. I shivered at the coldness and Cato squeezed my hands. She ran the wand thing over my stomach and as we waited for the image to come on the screen she asked a few questions. "When did you find out you were pregnant?"

"The day of our interviews. I suspected before then but that was when I officially found out."

"Okay, any morning sickness?"

"Oh yes. In the morning, sometimes during the day and when I smell certain foods." I said and she nodded looking towards the screen.

"Well there they are." she said with a small smile.

"They?" Cato asked confused.

"Yes they, you are having twins. You see there?" she pointed to a small image of a fetus. "and there." she said pointing to the one next to it. "it's too early to tell gender but yes you are having twins. And you are about a month along."

"Twins." I whispered as Cato brought my hand that he was holding to his lips.

"Would you like me to print out some images?"

"Yes thank you Doctor." I said. I couldn't take my eyes from the screen. She cleaned off my stomach and walked out of the room to retrieve them and left the two of us alone. I almost didn't feel Cato kiss my cheek I was too mesmerized on the screen.

"I can't believe it. We are having twins." he said happily. I turned my head and kissed his lips happily. When I pulled away he brought his hands up and wiped my tears I didn't know I shed.

"Why are you crying? Aren't you happy?" he asked.

"Yeah I am. Must be hormones." I say not wanting to admit that I'm actually crying. I was pulled to his chest as I let out a happy sob. When we left the office with our pictures I couldn't help but look at them. Cato was doing the same. We made it back to our apartment and set our jackets on the table. Cato went to the living room with one of the pictures. I set the others on the table and followed him. As he sat on the couch he opened his arms for me to sit on his lap.

"So what do you think? Boys or girls?" I asked him.

"Well you know me, I want a boy first so I'm hoping for boys." he said with a smirk. "Then we can use both Chase and Kai." he continued.

"What if it's a boy and a girl?"

"Then we need to decide on a name for the boy." he said making me laugh a little. But my laughs died down when I saw his face turn serious. "You know I was thinking about wanting to name our daughter after Clove. How would you feel if we name one of our sons after Peeta?" he asked softly and gently. He stared into my eyes intently waiting for my reaction.

"Really?" I said hopefully.

"Really. He was a friend to you Katniss, someone from your home, it," he paused and sighed. "it just feels right." I sat there and thought about it. It does feel right. More than Cato knows. He doesn't know that Peeta saved my life when I was younger, and I need to tell him.

"Peeta was more than a friend Cato, he saved my life."

"How?" he asked worriedly.

"After my dad died, we were having a hard time getting by even with me hunting. It was raining and freezing outside and I was trying to sell some of Prim's old clothing at The Hob but nothing would sell. I stopped outside the back of the Bakery, hoping to find something to eat in the garbage but it was empty." I paused to see how he was taking this story but his face told me to go on. So I did "his mom caught he and chased me away. I sat by a tree about to pass out from starvation when I heard shouting from inside. He had burned a few loaves of bread and his mom told him to throw them to the pigs, but instead when she wasn't looking, he threw them to me. Because of him my family was able to survive long enough for e to go hunting again and get more food the next day. I'm alive because of him." I started to shed tears again as I told him the story and he pulled my flush to his chest without hurting to babies growing in me.

"We are definitely naming one of them after him." he said seriously. He said and I smiled. I pulled myself away to take off my shoes.

"Okay I know I have to wear these things but they hurt." I complain.

"I think they make you look sexy." he said huskily in my ear. I smiled deviously at him.

"I'll be right back." I said before slipping away making him groan.

"No don't leave."

"Relax, I'll be right back."

"Hurry." he demanded. I walked into our bedroom and looked for the red dress I was wearing earlier I put it on and looked at myself in the mirror and thought it was missing something. I took a knife that I always carry with me and slit the dress up mid-thigh. Perfect. I thought. I walked back out of the room slowly, barely making any noise on the carpet. I opened the door quietly to see Cato still sitting on the couch, head leaned back, and his eyes closed. I padded over and slipped my heels back on.

"Now what was it you said about tearing some clothes to shreds?" I ask sweetly causing him to open his eyes and look at me with nothing but lust in them. He didn't say anything, he just stood up and smashed my lips to his. Our tongues battled for dominance and as usual he won.

His hands roamed all over my body as mine did to his. His hands finally rested at my hips where he lifted me up, making me wrap my legs around his waist. My hands went to the nape of his neck, playing with his hair. I didn't know we were moving until he kicked our bedroom door shut. He dropped me on the bed and started taking off his shirt, but I quickly got on my knees and stopped him.

"That's my job remember?" I said as I ripped his shirt down the middle making him growl in approval. He leaned forward and gave me a heated kiss, going farther and farther back until I was flat on my back. His hands going everywhere until my dress was in small red pieces on the floor of our room. Things only got more heated from there until I woke up wrapped in his bare arms and tangled in the blankets of our bed.

**AN:/ **

** I am so so so so sorry to say this but I am going to have to put this story on hold. I just... have lost my inspiration for this story and I ran out of ideas. I got so wrapped up in my other story that Knew got put on the back burner and even though I didn't forget about this story I just ran out of ideas. Mysteries Made is still going strong and is far from being done so if you haven't read it yet please go check it out and tell me what you think. I am willing to take some ideas for Knew so if you have any ideas or input on where you want to see this story go, feel completely free to let me know. **

**~ .Mockingjay**


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